PIONEER  PITH 


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BY 


ROBERT   C.   ADAMS 

l^esidcnt  of  the 

Montreal  Pioneer  Freetliought  Club 

Author  of  "Travels   in    Faith  from  Tradition  to  Reason 
"Evolution:  A  Summary  of  Evidence" 


New  York 

THE   TRUTH    SEEKER   COMPANY 
28  Lafayette  Place 


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OPINIONS  EEuARDINa  IT. 

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George  CUAINEY,  in  This  World. 

The  TRUTH  SEEKER,  founded  by  D.  M.  Bennett,  Is  to-day  perhaps  the 
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This  sterlini'  and  widely-circulated  Froethought  journal  has  won  Ita 
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Universe. 

The  Truth  Seeker  has  gathered  Its  resources,  and  will  b«  a  stronger, 
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The  Truth  seeker  has  become  a  necessity  to  the  Liberal  of  u^*— ^ono 
•M  Blade. 

Address  Thb  Tbuth   Seekeb,  __.       ., 

28  Lafayette  Place,  New  Yota.  Jitv, 


PIONEEE  PITH 


THE 


GIST  OF  LECTURES 


ON 


EATIONALISM 


BY 

ROBERT  C.  ADAMS 

PRESIDENT   OF  THE 

MONTREAL    PIONEER   FREETHOUGHT  CLUB 

AUTHOR   OF 

"  TRAVELS  IN  FAITH  FROM  TRADITION  TO  REASON  " 

"EVOLUTION:    A  SUMMARY  OF  EVIDENCE  " 


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New  York 
THE    TRUTH     SEEKER     COMPANY 

28    LAFAYETTE    PLACE 


Copyrighted,  1889, 

BY 

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CONTENTS. 


Pioneer  Pith,        ---.-.  5 
Evolution,          ----...g 

•The  Principles  of  Liberalism,      -       -       -  13 

The  History  of  Religion,         -       -       -       -  16 

The  History  of  Christianity,       -       -       -  23 

Hebrew  Mythology,          -       -       ...  27 

The  Pagan  Origin  of  Christianity,       -       -  31 

Modern  Criticism  of  the  Bible,      -       -       -  36 

Prophecy, 44 

The  Resurrection  of  Jesus,  -   -   -   -  48 

Creeds, -.53 

Religion— Is  It  Permanent?    -       -       -       -  67 

Theism  and  Atheism, 61 

The  Origin  and  Growth  of  Morality,     -        -  68 

The  Promotion  of  Morality,         -       -       -  73 

Sabbath  Observance,     -----  77 

Ancient  Morality,     ------  82 

What  Have  Unbelievers  Done  for  the  World?  85 

Christianity  and  Civilization,       -       -     .  -  92 

The  Secular  New  Year, 96 


PIONEER   PITH. 

What  men  want  nowadays  is  pith;  the  marrow, 
kernel,  substance,  bottom  fact,  bed-rock  truth.  Con- 
densed thought  is  in  demand ;  for  knowledge  is  so 
vast  and  time  so  short,  that  only  a  few  can  grasp  any 
great  bulk  of  the  treasures  of  learning.  Specialists 
must  master  every  detail  in  their  several  depart- 
ments of  study,  but  the  pith  of  their  conclusions 
must  be  extracted  and  diffused  to  promote  general 
intelligence. 

The  facts  to  be  first  presented  should  be  the 
pioneer  truths,  which,  as  the  word  signifies,  must 
go  before  to  remove  obstructions  and  prepare  the 
way  for  human  advance  in  the  path  of  progress. 
The  first  essential  to  efficient  action  is  a  right  con- 
ception of  the  order  of  the  universe.  Work  cannot 
be  well  done,  unless  the*  conditions  that  control  its 
performance  are  understood.  The  engineer  must 
know  the  laws  of  steam.  Man  needs  to  know  the 
laws  that  control  his  being.  All  religions,  therefore, 
depend  upon  a  cosmogony,  a  theory  as  to  the  origin 
and  nature  of  the  world. 

The  Christian  religion  presents  a  theory  of  exist- 
ence founded  on  miracle  and  supernatural  powers. 
To  deliver  men  from  bondage  to  these  erroneous 
ideas,  and  from  subjection  to  those  who  live  by  their 


6  .  PIONEER  PITH. 

perpetuation,  they  must  be  given  the  pith  of  radical 
ideas. 

The  pioneer  pith  of  Rationalism  is  the  fact  that 
the  universe  is  controled  by  natural  laws,  and  de- 
velops by  uninterrupted  successions  of  cause  and 
effect ;  no  arbitrary  supernatural  will  ever  interferes. 
Once  grasp  the  idea, 

,  Nature  never  nods, 
*  ■  Nor  leaves  her  work  to  gods, 

and  all  the  dogmas  of  theology  will  be  cast  off. 
Tetich  men  that  connected  causes  produce  all  re- 
sults, and. the  ground  is  cleared  of  the  rubbish  of 
faith  and  is  ready  for  the  plowshare  of  reason  and 
the  seed  of  knowledge.     Whatever  happens, 

The  only  cause  .  .,:; 

Is  nature's  laws.  .  •    ' 

Nobody  knows  how  nature's  laws  originated,  or,  if 
they  had  a  beginning,  how  they  started.  But,  if 
there  was  a  starter,  there  is  no  evidence  that  he 
ever  interferes  with  their  working,  nor  is  there  any 
answer  to  the  question.  Who  started  the  starter? 
Science  has  proved  that  orderly  evolution  is  the  law 
of  the  universe.  It  therefore  follows  that  this  world 
was  not  made  suddenly  by  the  word  of  a  god,  nor  was 
man  made  out  of  the  dust ;  no  serpent  tempted  man 
to  fall,  and  he  needs  no  atonement ;  no  revelation 
was  ever  given  by  a  being  superior  to  man,  but  all 
knowledge  has  been  gained  by  man's  own  study  of 
nature  ;  no  miracle  ever  happened,  and  no  prayer  to 
supernatural  powers  was  ever  answered ;  no  savior 
was  born  of  a  virgin;  no  one  ever  rose  from  the 
dead. 


PIONEER  PITH.  7 

Put  this  pith  of  natural  law  into  every  man*s  mind 
and  slavery  will  cease.  No  longer  will  man  be  the 
victim  of  beliefs  about  gods,  angels,  and  devils,  and 
be  the  prey  of  those  who  thrive  by  his  bondage.  All 
the  dogmatic  structures  of  religion  will  crumble,  the 
mazes  of  theolog}^  will  be  made  straight,  the  multi- 
farious creeds  will  be  abandoned,  and  the  emanci- 
pated Christian  will  adopt  • 

THE  PITHY  CREED   OF  RATIONALISM. 

Jehovah  ranks  with  Jupiter ; 
The  Bible's  Hebrew  literature  ; 
Confucius,  Jesus,  both  were  men ; 
A  future  life's  beyond  our  ken. 

A  miracle  do  not  expect ; 
Seek  nature's  cause  for  each  effect. 
From  man  have  come  all  gods  and  creeds ; 
.  .  Your  only  savior  is  your  deeds. 


EVOLUTION. 

Evolution  is  the  tLeory  that  all  the  varied  details 
of  the  universe  are  the  result  of  a  gradual  develop- 
ment from  simpler  conditions,  through  the  working  of  - 
the  laws  of  nature  which  now  surround  us.     Worlds, 
minerals,   plants,   animals,   man,   language,   morals,   ^ 
laws,  literature,  arts  and  sciences,  as  they  exist  to- 
day, are  the  outcome  of  the  unceasing  successions  of 
cause  and  effect  that  have  taken  place,  through  the    . 
preceding  ages,  in  accordance  with  natural  law. 

But  the  term  as  popularly  used  refers  more  espe- 
cially to  life,  and  in  this  sense  Evolution  is  the 
theory  that  all  existing  forms  of  life  have  been  pro- 
duced from  simpler  forms  by  a  gradual  process  of 
change.  Instead  of  an  unchangeable  universe,  orig- 
inated by  special  creation,  the  Evolutionist,  seeing 
constant  variation  in  each  kind  or  species  of  plants 
and  animals,  has  learned  that  these  variations  may 
increase,  until,  in  a  long  course  of  natural  descent, 
forms  are  produced  that  appear  to  be  distinct  species. 
In  the  breeding  of  domestic  animals  and  in  the  cross- 
ing of  plants,  such  marked  differences  result  in  a 
short  time,  that  it  becomes  certain  that  such  varia- 
tion continued  through  a  long  period  would  produce 
forms  appearing  to  differ  in  kind  from  their  ancestors. 

It  is  therefore  seen  to  be  both  possible  and  prob- 


EVOLUTION  9 

able  that  all  existing  forms  of  life  have  developed 
from  a  few  simple  forms,  or  even  from  one  form,  by- 
slow  processes  of  change  continued  through  vast 
ages. 

The  great  work  of  Darwin  was  to  point  out  the 
main  process  through  which  the  evolution  of  forms 
takes  place.  More  organisms  come  into  life  than 
the  means  of  subsistence  can  support.  This  leads  to 
a  struggle  for  existence.  There  is  some  variety  in 
the  forms  of  the  individuals  of  each  species  of  plants 
and  animals,  and  those  possessing  the  variations  most 
suited  to  their  conditions  are  enabled  to  survive, 
while  those  less  adapted  to  the  circumstances  perish. 
This  is  called  the  survival  of  the  fittest.  These  indi- 
viduals reproduce  in  their  offspring  the  variations 
that  have  benefited  them,  and  new  variations  occur, 
those  that  are  useful  being  perpetuated. 

Thus  there  is  a  continual  divergence  from  the 
parent  stock,  wherever  there  is  a  change  of  sur- 
rounding conditions  that  causes  variations  that  are 
serviceable  to  existence.  When  tliese  variations  ai-e 
long  continued,  they  form  new  species.  But  where 
there  is  no  change  in  the  circumstances  of  life,  and 
the  means  of  existence  are  abundant,  there  is  little 
or  no  change  in  the  forms  of  life.  This  process,  by 
which  nature  selects  the  forms  best  suited  to  their 
surroundings,  is  called  by  Darwin,  Natural  Selec- 
tion. , 

To  summarize  the  evidences,  we  find  : 

1.  The  Nebular  Hypothesis — the  formation  of 
worlds  from  the  moving  "star  dust" — agrees  with 
all  known  facts  concerning  the  solar  system,  and  is 
accepted  as  the  best  explanation  of  the  universe. 


10  ^  EVOLUTION. 

2.  All  the  orders  of  the  animal  vrorld  show  a  con- 
nection, more  or  less  complete,  by  which  an  ascend- 
ing tree  of  life  spreads  out  from  a  common  root. 

3.  All  the  classes  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  are 
likewise  allied  by  a  continuous  succession  of  forms. 

4.  Animal  and  vegetable  life  meet  in  the  lowest 
forms  and  suggest  a  common  origin. 

5.  All  vegetable  and  animal  life  originate  in  cells 
of  protoplasm  which,  to  all  appearance,  are  alike. 

6.  Every  animal  before  reaching  its  adult  form 
passes  through  forms  common  to  the  races  below  it. 
These  changes  occur  either  wholly  before  birth,  as 
in  the  case  of  quadrupeds  and  man,  or  partly  after 
birth,  as  with  frogs  and  butterflies.  Tlie  only  intel- 
ligible way  of  accounting  for  this  development  of  in- 
dividuals, is  to  suppose  that  the  races  to  whi  they 
belong  have  developed  in  a  similar  manner  from 
lower  orders,  and  the  history  of  their  descent  is  re- 
peated in  the  history  of  each  individual.  "  Develop- 
ment repeats  descent." 

7.  Animals  and  plants  have  rudiments  of  organs 
which  are  useless,  and  in  some  cases  disappear  in 
adult  life.  This  can  only  be  explained  by  the  sup- 
position that  these  forms  are  inherited  from  ances- 
tors who  possessed  them  fully  developed. 

8.  Change  of  surroundings  causes  change  in  the 
organs  of  animals,  in  consequence  of  the  survival  of 
those  who  possess  any  peculiarity  that  makes  them 
better  fitted  to  endure  the  changes,  and  these  pecu- 
liarities become  fixed  in  their  descendants. 

9.  These  changes  of  surroundings  sometimes  lead 
animals  to  revert  to  the  forms  of  lower  organisms, 
making  it  probable  that  their  race  formerly  arose 


EYOLUTION.  11 

from  those  forms  through  the  influence  of  changed 
conditions,  which  ceasing,  the  new  forms  are  no 
longer  useful  and  disappear. 

10.  The  mimicry  by  animals  of  resemblances  thai 
are  useful,  shows  that  new  species  may  arise  by  the 
pepietuation  of  useful  variations  of  form  or  color. 

11.  The  distribution  of  animals  and  plants  over 
the  earth  shows  that  natural  causes  account  for  the 
presence  of  each  kind  in  its  locality. 

12.  The  study  of  fossil  remains  of  plants  and  ani- 
mals reveals  links  between  orders  so  separate  that 
they  have  been  regarded  as  special  creations.  But 
these  intermediate  forms  show  the  transition  rom 
one  species  to  another. 

13.  In  the  oldest  rocks  the  lowest  forms  of  life  are 
found,  and  higher  forms  appear  successively  in  later 
deposits,  the  highest  creature — man — being  found  in 
the  latest  strata,  proving  that  the  series  of  forms  that 
we  now  observe  in  existing  life  have  been  gradually 
developed  in  the  same  ascending  series  during  the 
vast  periods  of  the  past. 

14.  The  development  of  mind  is  traced  upward 
from  the  lowest  instincts,  as  truly  as  is  the  develop- 
ment of  organic  forms  from  simpler  organisms,  show- 
ing no  need  for  the  theory  of  the  special  creation  of 
man's  reasoning  powers. 

15.  The  study  of  languages  reveals  an  orderly, 
gradual  development  of  speech,  corresponding  to  the 
growth  of  forms  of  life. 

16.  Moral  sentiments  have  unfolded  in  animals  and 
man  by  a  process  of  development,  similar  to  what  is 
observed  in  organic  fc    ns. 

17.  There  is  no  evidence  that  any  thing  has  sud-. 


12  EVOLUTION. 

denly  come  into  existence  in  a  completely  developed 
form  of  varied  structure.  It  is  probable  that  the 
lowest  and  simplest  form  of  life  is  the  result  oi  the 
combmation  of  particles  of  matter  by  their  own  in- 
herent energy,  and  that  all  subsequent  developments 
have  arisen  from  progressive  changes  that  occurred 
in  accordance  with  the  same  laws  of  nature  that  sur- 
round us  to-day. 

18.  Finally,  one  of  the  principal  causes  of  these 
progressive  changes  is  observed  to  be  the  struggle 
for  existence,  which  secures  the  survival  of  the  fittest, 
or  Natural  Selection. 

The  idea  of  the  special  creation  of  the  world  by 
divine  fiat,  as  described  in  the  book  of  Genesis,  has 
been  abandoned  in  favor  of  the  theory  of  Evolution 
by  nearly  all  learned  men.  Professor  Huxley  says, 
in  "  The  Liie  and  Letters  of  Charles  Darwin,"  "  I  do 
not  think  that  there  is  a  single  zoologist,  or  botanist, 
or  paleontologist  among  the  multitude  of  active  work- 
ers of  this  generation  who  is  other  than  an  Evolu- 
tionist, profoundly  influenced  by  Darwin's  views." 


PEINCIPLES  OF  LIBERALISM. 

In  the  multitude  of  disputes  about  religious  dogmas, 
people  lose  sight  of  the  essential  difference  in  the 
standpoints  of  Liberalism  and  orthodox  Christianity. 
The  whole  question  in  dispute  can  be  narrowed  down 
to  this,  Is  the  universe  ordered  by  the  present  con- 
scious will  of  a  supreme  being,  or  does  the  universe 
proceed  in  its  development  by  an  orderly  succession 
of  cause  and  effect  ?  The  contest  is  between  miracle 
and  natural  law.  If  God  ordains  and  directs  each 
event,  we  can  believe  in  miracles,  revelations,  and  the 
power  of  prayer.  But  if  no  one  interferes  with  the 
orderly  evolution  of  nature,  we  need  only  concern 
ourselves  with  learning  her  method  of  development. 
Instead  of  prayer  for  rain,  we  shall  study  meteorology ; 
instead  of  healing  by  faith,  we  shall  study  hygiene ; 
instead  of  worship,  we  shall  employ  research. 

Liberalism  is  founded  on  this  belief  in  the  invio- 
lability of  nature's  order  and  the  right  of  free  inquiry 
concerning  it.  The  establishment  of  the  theory  of 
Evolution  has  settled  nature's  order;  and  human 
progress  in  the  last  century  has  shown  the  benefit  of 
free  inquiry.  These  results  are  so  widely  accepted 
that  the  church  is  trying  to  find  a  way  to  adopt  them 
and  preserve  her  organization,  for  they  are  seen  to 
be  fatal  to  her  existence.     The  method  generally 


14  THE  rniNCIPLES  01   LI'^RRAIISIC 

chosen  is  that  portrayed  in  Professor  Drummond's 
book,  "  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World,"  which 
shows  that  supernatural  doctrines  are  constructed 
upon  the  same  lines  as  natural  facts,  and  therefore, 
it  is  claimed,  may  be  deemed  true.  But  the  weak- 
ness of  the  position  consists  in  begging  the  question 
by  assuming  that  there  is  a  spiritual  world ;  and  the 
assertion  that  religious  dogmas  are  counterparts  of 
what  men  perceive  in  nature,  only  illustrates  the 
truth  which  Liberalism  insists  on,  that  men  have 
made  religion.  Of  course,  they  would  make  it  after 
familiar  models,  and  must  create  an  unseen  world 
after  the  pattern  of  the  seen. 

The  great  protest  of  Liberalism  is  against  this  con- 
cern with  the  unknown.  We  find  vast  organizations, 
institutions  for  theological  learning,  churches  and 
councils,  all  engaged  in  investigating  the  duration  of 
a  hell  that  never  existed,  the  nature  of  an  atonement 
that  never  was  made,  the  composition  of  a  trinity 
that  nobody  knows  of,  and  the  welfare  of  souls  which 
are  only  an  assumption.  The  dispute  of  the  school- 
men as  to  how  many  angels  could  stand  on  the  point 
of  a  cambric  needle  is  no  more  foolish  and  unprofit- 
able. Here  is  nature  just  bursting  forth  with  her 
secrets.  Here  are  steam,  electricity,  chemistry,  in- 
vention, and  economic  questions  pressing  for  solu- 
tion, demanding  all  the  brain  of  the  world,  while 
social  questions  call  for  its  heart.  Liberalism  pro- 
tests against  this  waste  of  treasure  and  effort  upon 
the  propagation  of  theological  ideas,  while  natural 
science  and  economics  are  neglected. 

A  common  charge  against  Liberalism  is,  that  it  is 
destructiye  and  not  constructive.    A  sailor  was  asked, 


THE    nilNCIPLES   OF  LIB£KAU8M.  16 

"  What  is  meant  by  humbugging  ?"  He  replied,  "  It 
is  sawing  wood  with  a  hammer."  If  you  take  the 
hammer  away  and  give  the  man  a  saw,  he  may,  in 
ignorance,  declare  you  have  hindered  his  work, 
whereas  you  have  taken  away  the  tool  with  which  he 
was  wasting  his  time  and  have  given  him  the  means 
of  construction.  That  is  what  Liberalism  does.  It 
sees  men  trying  to  advance  the  world  by  belief  in 
miraculous  help,  and  it  destroys  that  idea  and  teaches 
men  to  depend  on  themselves  and  look  for  natural 
results.  It  tells  men  to  throw  away  the  old  hammers 
of  prayer,  pilgrimage,  and  penance,  and  take  the  saws 
of  learning,  labor,  and  liberty.  Orthodoxy  is  con- 
cerned for  the  glory  of  God,  Liberalism  strives  for 
the  uplifting  of  man. 

All  progress  arises  from  Naturalism.  Prayer  and 
processions  have  been  vainly  tried  against  small-pox 
and  floods,  but  isolation  checked  the  epidemic  and 
dykes  restrained  the  waters. 

Liberalism  was  defined  by  Prof.  W.  K.  Clifford  as 
"organized  common  sense,"  and  that  is  truly  its 
essence.  Let  any  one  depend  on  natural  means  and 
use  common  sense,  and  he  is  a  Liberal,  no  matter  by 
what  name  he  is  called.  Common  sense  in  this  age 
does  not  trust  in  miracles.  The  mission  of  Liber- 
alism is  to  teach  self-reliance  in  place  of  divine  pau- 
perism. 


THE  IIISrORY   OF  RELIGION. 

A  NEW  science  has  lately  arisen — the  comparison 
of  religions.  It  is  new,  because  the  opinion  has  pre- 
vailed that  Christianity  is  the  only  true  relij^ion  aud 
came  from  God,  while  all  other  religions  are  false 
and  came  from  the  devil  These  last  were  therefore 
unworthy  of  notice. 

The  doctrine  of  Evolution  having  shown  the  prob- 
ability of  the  gradual  development  of  all  existing 
forms  of  life  from  lower  orders,  analogy  suggested 
that  all  social  customs  and  beliefs  had  likewise  de- 
veloped in  accordance  with  the  same  laws  of  nature. 
As  the  special  creation  of  man  was  disproved,  so  the 
special  revelation  of  one  true  religion  was  over- 
thrown, and  it  was  seen  that  the  existing  religions 
have  been  gradually  developed  from  earlier  faiths, 
and  are  all,  therefore,  deserving  objects  of  study. 

There  are  three  principal  methods  of  research  into 
past  religion — the  study  of  written  history,  observa- 
tion of  existing  races  of  men,  and  the  study  of  lan- 
guage. History  permits  the  comparison  of  the  ideas 
of  different  eras.  Observation  of  savage  races  sug- 
gests what  may  have  been  the  primitive  religious  be- 
liefs of  man,  and  the  study  of  the  ideas  of  men  in 
higher  states  of  civilization  suggests  the  manner  in 
which  religions  have  grown.     Customs  and  ideas  are 


THE  HISTOBY  OF  UELIQION.  17 

recorded  in  words,  just  as  fossils  are  presoryod  in  the 
rocks ;  and  skilful  scholars  like  Max  Mailer,  George 
Smith,  BawlinsoD,  and  others,  have  unfolded  his- 
tories of  extinct  races  by  the  study  of  cuneiform  and 
hieroglyphic  writings,  and  by  tracing  in  modern 
speech  the  roots  derived  from  ancient  languages. 

The  oldest  people  that  can  be  traced  are  the  Tu- 
ranians, known  only  by  caves  and  gravel  relics.  The 
oldest  civilization  comes  from  them  or  from  a  closely 
allied  race  represented  by  the  Akkadians  in  Mesopo- 
tamia, who  gave  their  traditions  to  their  successors 
in  Babylon.  The  Aryans  succeeded  the  Turanians 
in  Central  Asia;  and  all  Europeans,  except  Finns, 
Magyars,  and  Turks,  have  sprung  from  this  race. 
Their  religion  was  nature-worship  or  animism.  Their 
chief  god  was  Dyaits,  the  sky,  which  became  in  India 
Dyaics-pitar,  heaven-father;  in  Greece,  Zeiis-pater ; 
and  in  Rome  Jupiter.  Their  rites  advanced  from  sac- 
rifices to  thanksgivings  and  sin-offerings,  showing  a 
gradual  development  from  fear  to  love  and  conscience. 
Altars  were  revered,  temples  were  built  over  them, 
priests  were  ordained  to  relieve  the  people  from  the 
burdensome  ritual,  and  thinking  was  finally  left  to 
them. 

Descendants  of  the  Aryans  conquered  the  older 
settlers  of  India,  who  are  now  re})resented  by  Finns, 
Lapps,  and  Mongols.  In  the  sacred  books,  the  Vedas, 
can  be  traced  the  progress  of  religious  ideas  from  the 
Aryan  animism.  Miiller  says,  "  We  can  follow  in  the 
Vedic  hymns,  step  by  step,  the  development  which 
changes  the  sun  into  a  creator,  preserver,  ruler,  and 
rewarder  of  the  world,  in  fact,  into  a  divine  or  su- 
preme being."    He  styles  India  "  the  birthplace  of 


•18  THE   HISTOBY  OF   RELIGION. 

religions'*  and  the  exemplar  of  their  growth.  First 
came  a  perception  of  the  infinite,  back  of  mountains, 
rivers,  and  sky  :  then  henotheism,  a  belief  in  single 
equal  deities ;  then  polytheism,  or  one  supreme  being 
over  other  deities ;  then  monotheism,  one  only  god ; 
and  lastly  atheism,  or  a  belief  in  only  one  existence 
manifested  in  the  varied  forms  of  the  universe.  The 
study  of  all  races  shows  that  this  i^  the  natural  order 
of  the  development  of  religious  ideas. 

Religion  in  India  assumed  the  form  of  Brahman- 
ism,  the  worship  of  a  trinity  composed  of  Brahma 
the  creator,  Vishnu  the  conservator,  and  Sivah  the 
destroyer  of  the  world.  About  900  B.C.  Vishnu  was 
incarnated  in  the  form  of  Chrishna,  who,  according 
to  Sir  William  Jones,  was  said  to  have  been  descended 
from  a  royal  family,  was  born  among  herdsmen,  and 
escaped  from  the  tyrant  Cansa,  who  destroyed  the 
new-born  males.  He  performed  miracles,  raised  the 
dead,  descended  to  the  lowest  regions,  rose  from  the 
dead,  ascended  into  heaven,  and  was  followed  by 
disciples  who  preached  his  doctrines.  These  re- 
semblances between  this  legendary  man-god  and 
Jesus  are  striking. 

Buddhism  arose  later  as  a  revolt  from  the  power 
of  the  ^priests,  and  bears  the  same  relation  to  Brah- 
manism  that  Christianity  does  to  Judaism.  It  also 
had  its  savior,  Gautama  Buddha,  who  was  miracu- 
lously born,  and  at  the  age  of  about  thirty  started 
out  as  a  reformer.  He  gave  ten  commandments, 
which  include  prohibitions  of  intoxicating  drink, 
anger,  hatred,  and  bitter  language,  idle  and  vain  talk, 
envy,  pride,  revenge,  malice,  or  desire  of  neighbors' 
death  or  misfortune.     Brahmanism  finally  became 


I 


THE  HISTORY   OP  RELIGION.  19 

supreme  by  conquest,  and  Buddhism,  being  driven 
out  of  India,  spread  in  the  east  of  Asia.  When  the 
first  Roman  Catholic  missionaries  went  to  Thibet 
they  found  the  Buddhist  priests  with  shaven  heads, 
kneeling  to  images,  worshiping  relics,  wearing  strings 
of  beads,  using  bells  and  holy  water,  and  hearing 
confessions.  They  declared  that  the  devil  had  made 
a  mockery  of  their  faith,  not  realizing  that  they  had 
reached  one  of  the  sources  of  their  religion. 

In  Persia,  religious  ideas  developed  out  of  the 
Aryan  faith,  through  the  in^a(>  ce  of  Zoroaster,  who 
is  supposed  to  have  lived  about  1200  B.C.  He  taught 
the  existence  of  two  powers — good  and  evil,  which 
became  personified  as  god  and  devil — the  immortality 
of  the  soul,  heaven  and  hell,  resurrection  and  judg- 
ment. His  followers  still  believe  in  the  coming  of 
Sosiosh,  a  spiritually  begotten  savior,  to  redeem 
the  world.  The  Jews  during  their  captivity  came 
under  the  influences  of  these  ideas,  and  many  of  the 
doctrines  of  the  Hebrew  and  Christian  religions  ap- 
pear to  have  been  derived  from  that  source.  Max 
Miiller  says,  "  If  the  battles  of  Marathon  and  Sala- 
mis  had  been  lost  and  Greece  had  succumbed  to 
Persia,  the  worship  of  Ormuzd  might  have  become 
the  religion  of  the  whole  civilized  world."  On  such 
human  causes  does  the  acceptance  of  "  revelation " 
depend. 

In  China,  religion  is  traced  back  to  the  twelfth 
century  before  Christ,  and  shows  elements  of  fetish- 
ism with  worship  of  spirits.  Its  development  seems 
to  have  been  more  rapid  than  in  any  other  country, 
for  it  reached  the  atheistic  stage  in  the  time  of  Con- 
fucius, 500  B.C.     Confucianism  is  now  adhered  to  by 


20  THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 

all  the  cultivated  classes.  It  is  rather  a  system  of 
morality  than  a  religion,  as  it  avoids  supernatural- 
ism,  and  is  in  fact  secularism.  The  more  ignorant 
people  indulge  in  various  stages  of  supernatural  be- 
lief, and  profess  either  the  Taouist  or  the  Buddhist 
religion. 

The  religion  of  Egypt  shows  traces  of  animism,  and 
a  development  of  ideas  is  noticed,  which  were  modi- 
fied through  conquests  by  Assyrians,  Persians,  and 
Greeks.  But  Egypt  in  return  influenced  the  Hebrews 
and  Phoenicians,  and  gave  to  Rome  the  worship  of 
the  virgin,  the  miraculous  conception,  and  its  style  of 
god. 

The  history  of  the  Hebrews  shows  a  gradual  ad- 
vance through  polytheism  to  monotheism,  and  an 
improvement  in  the  character  of  their  god  Yahveh 
(Jehovah),  as  they  learned  the  good  traits  of  other 
gods  and  became  more  civilized  themselves.  After 
the  captivity  in  Babylon  Ezra  organized  Judaism, 
the  priestly  religion  that  grew  out  of  the  Mosaism  of 
the  prophets,  and,  under  the  influence  of  Greek  phi- 
losophy and  humanity  and  oriental  doctrines,  Chris- 
tianity naturally  evolved,  and,  through  Rome's  uni- 
versal sovereignty,  gained  its  sway.  Its  rival,  Mo- 
hammedanism, being  better  suited  to  the  genius  and 
mental  condition  of  the  southern  races,  has  estab- 
lislied  supremacy  in  many  countries  and  is  now 
spreading  rapidly  over  Africa. 

A  study  of  the  religions  of  Greece,  Rome,  Scandi- 
navia, and  America  reveals  the  same  law  of  mental 
progress.  Each  religion  takes  on  the  characteristics 
of  the  people.  The  joyous  negro  has  a  poetic  myth- 
ology, the  gloomy  Indian  a  more  somber  one ;  the 


THE   HISTORY   OF   RELIGION.  21 

pastoral  races  have  a  mild  theology,  and  the  warlike 
races  a  cruel  one.  It  is  clear  that  each  people  makes 
its  own  god  and  creed  according  to  its  requirements. 
Spencer  shows  that  a  savage  man  needs  a  savage  god. 
The  Christian  fathers,  who  thought  one  of  the  de- 
lights of  heaven  would  be  the  contemplation  of  the 
torments  of  the  damned,  needed  a  severe  god  to  keep 
them  in  order.  All  are  "good  for  their  times  and 
places."  "  Though  bad  in  the  abstract,  they  are  rela- 
tively good — are  the  best  which  the  then  existing 
conditions  admit." 

A  survey  of  the  religions  of  the  world  shows  their 
connected  development  and  their  equally  human 
origin.  The  race  has  progressed  as  a  child  pro- 
gresses. Most  of  the  dogmas  of  religion  and  the 
mytlis  and  fairy  tales  of  all  peoples,  can  be  traced 
back  to  stories  suggested  in  the  childhood  of  the 
human  race  by  observation  of  the  phenomena  of 
nature,  the  contest  between  light  and  darkness  and 
the  struggle  between  good  and  evil.  Cinderella  is 
the  dawn-maiden  pursued  by  the  sun-god.  Jack  the 
Giant  Killer,  William  Tell,  and  most  of  the  nursery- 
tale  heroes  are  traced  back  to  the  old  Aryan  sun- 
myths.  As  the  child's  mind  advances  out  of  belief 
in  fairy  tales,  so  has  the  race  grown  in  religious  ideas 
according  to  its  education  and  civilization. 

These  facts  should  teach  us  toleration,  for  anger 
and  malice  toward  earlier  stages  of  growth  are 
absurd  and  impolitic.  They  should  give  us  hope ; 
for,  if  religion  has  advanced,  or  rather  improved,  for 
religion  in  the  sense  of  the  worship  of  supernatural 
powers  steadily  declines  as  races  progress,  we  may 
hope  for  the  extinction  of  supernatural  beliefs.     Im- 


22  THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIOION. 

provements  always  being  possible,  we  have  a  stimu- 
lus each  to  add  his  mite  toward  the  uplifting  of  the 
human  race  above  the  childish  fancies  that  hinder 
its  mature  development 


IirSTORY  OF  CHRrSTIANITY. 

The  Christian  religion  is  founded  upon  the  alleged 
life,  death,  and  resurrection  of  a  person  called  Jesus 
the  Christ,  or  anointed.  So  far  as  we  are  aware,  no 
eye-witness  of  his  existence  has  ever  recorded  the 
fact ;  and  the  only  testimony  that  we  possess  as  to 
his  life  is  contained  in  four  gospels,  which  were 
probably  compiled  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  years 
after  his  death.  By  comparing  the  points  upon  which 
the  first  three  gospels  a^ree,  a  "  triple  tradition  "  is 
obtained,  which  is  considered  to  be  the  nearest  ap- 
proach to  an  accurate  account  of  what  was  believed 
about  him  in  his  own  time.  This  shows  him  to  have 
been  an  earnest  preacher  of  righteousness,  of  natural 
birth,  who  was  believed  to  have  wrought  some  mira- 
cles common  to  all  the  religions  of  that  era.  He  was 
put  to  death,  and  never  rose  again.  He  taught  noth- 
ing new,  but  in  the  sayings  attributed  to  him  are 
summarized  much  of  the  ethical  teaching  of  the  past. 
After  his  death  legends  grew  around  his  simple  story ; 
Paul  added  dogmas  to  the  moral  creed  of  Jesus,  and 
founded  Christianity,  a  religion  which  since  then  has 
constantly  increased  its  doctrines ;  the  latest  one, 
papal  infallibility,  having  been  added  in  1870 ;  thirty- 
four  councils  having  met  during  these  ages  to  settle 
beliefs. 


24  THE 'history  of  CHRISTIANITY. 

The  early  Christian  fathers,  who  developed  and 
added  to  the  doctrines  of  Paul,  though  devout,  were 
mostly  ignorant  and  credulous  men.  They  could  not 
be  trusted  in  controversial  matters,  for  their  zeal 
often  triumphed  over  truth  and  honesty. 

The  new  "Religion  spread  by  means  of  the  earnest- 
ness of  its  teachers,  its  high  morality,  and  its  fitness 
to  the  age.  But  its  final  establishment  was  due  to 
the  emperor  Constantine,  who,  though  a  monster  of 
depravity,  for  politic  reasons  made  Christianity  the 
state  religion  in  the  early  part  of  the  iourth  century. 
Through  wars,  massacres,  and  missions  tlie  system 
has  extended  over  the  known  world. 

For  centuries  dissensions  have  raged  about  the 
nature  of  Christ  and  many  other  dogmas,  and  as  to 
the  books  that  should  compose  the  sacred  canon. 
Some  of  these  questions  were  settled  by  votes,  and 
others  by  blood.  Ceremonies  and  holy  days  were 
established,  saints  were  created,  images  were  adored, 
relics  became  precious,  and  miracles  were  proclaimed. 
For  three  hundred  years  during  "the  dark  ages" 
ignorance  and  credulity  reigned  supreme. 

Rivalry  existed  among  the  church  dignitaries,  but 
the  bishops  of  Kome  became  the  most  powerful,  and 
in  the  fifth  century  Leo  became  the  first  pope.  In 
the  eleventh  century  Gregory  VII.  established  the 
supremacy  of  the  popes  over  the  civil  powers,  declar- 
ing the  pope  to  be  the  sun  and  the  king  the  moon. 
He  also  instituted  the  celibacy  of  the  priests.  The 
patriarchs  of  Constantinople  had  many  dissensions 
with  the  popes  of  Rome,  and  in  the  eleventh  century 
the  Eastern  and  Western  divisions  finally  separated — 
the  former  being  since  known  as  the  Greek  church. 


THE   HISTORY   OF  CHRISTIANITY.  25 

In  the  eleventli  century  fanatical  crusades  were 
undertaken  to  gain  possession  of  the  holy  sepulcher 
at  Jerusalem.  Seven  million  lives  were  lost,  and  the 
priDcipal  gains  were  an  increase  of  knowledge,  exten- 
sion of  commerce,  and  respect  for  "  intidels." 

In  the  twelfth  century  reason  began  to  combat  the 
current  religion,  but  heresy  was  crushed  by  persiacu- 
tion,  and  for  four  hundred  years  Euroj/e  was  deluged 
with  blood  by  religious  wars.  The  massacres  of  the 
Waldenses  and  Huguenots,  the  tortures  of  the  Inqui- 
sition, the  expulsion  of  the  Moors  from  Spain,  the 
Hussite  wars,  slaughter  in  the  Netherlands,  and  other 
atrocities  destroyed  the  most  intelligent  people  of 
the  times  and  delayed  the  advance  of  civilization. 

In  the  fifteenth  century  the  printing-press  began 
its  work  of  education,  and  early  in  the  next  century 
Martin  Luther  voiced  the  growing  sentiment  in  favor 
of  free  thought — the  right  of  private  judgment., 
Through  many  vicissitudes  this  principle  has  spread, 
and  the  writings  of  rationalists  in  Germany,  France, 
England,  and  America  have  brought  the  Protesta.nt 
church  steadily  away  from  Catholic  Christianity 
toward  the  goal  to  which  it  is  destined — the  adop- 
tion of  reason  as  the  only  guide.  The  alternative  is 
trust  in  authority.  This  the  church  of  Rome  still 
maintains ;  and  it  is  doubtless  the  only  basis  upon 
which  belief  in  unprovable  things  can  be  preserved. 
Protestants  who  cannot  be  freethinkers  will  drift 
back  to  the  historic  church  of  Christianity.  The 
conflict  of  the  future  will  be  between  Rome  and 
reason,  the  church  and  freethought. 

The  history  of  Christianity  shows  that,  like  all 
religions,  its  origin  and  growth  are  purely  human. 


26  THE  HISTORY   OP  CHRISTIANITY. 

It  has  contributed  some  beneficial  effects,  but  its  ex- 
altation of  belief  over  morality  and  its  opposition  to 
science  have  been  injurious.  Its  crimes  and  cruelties 
show  man's  barbarous  nature,  which  knowledge  and 
experience  are  slowly  refining.  It  is  to  be  regarded 
as  a  system  rather  than  as  a  doctrine,  for,  like  Pro- 
teus, it  changes  its  forms,  and  whenever  defeated  in 
attack,  if  policy  so  dictates,  it  adopts  the  proved 
ideas  of  its  assailants,  and  thus  preserves  its  organi- 
zation, which  is  more  essential  to  its  official  sup- 
porters than  are  its  dogmas.  These  are  abandoned 
or  changed  whenever  expediency  dictates,  making 
aggressive  effort  very  difficult ;  for  whenever  a  point 
is  successfully  assailed,  it  is  declared  to  be  "  unes- 
sential," or  else  not  to  belong  to  triie  Cliristianity. 
Everything  is  abandoned  but  natural  morality,  and 
still  men  call  themselves  Christians  and  support  the 
system  which  has  no  excuse  for  continuance  unless 
miracle  and  revelation  are  facts.  When  rationalists 
see  the  duty  of  consistency,  they  will  cease  to  uphold 
a  system  which  has  no  logical  existence  apart  from 
supernaturalism. 


HEBREW  MYTHOLOGY. 

In  its  early  days  every  race  Las  invented  myths  or 
fables  to  explain  the  mysteries  o^  nature.  Tylor  says 
a  myth  is  the  savage  way  of  satisfying  scientific  curi- 
osity. Miiller  traces  their  growth  by  the  applications 
of  names  of  deities  to  natural  objects,  as  when  the 
sun  pursuing  the  dawn  is  personilied  as  Apollo  pur- 
suing Daphne.  Lang  and  other  writers  show  that 
these  myths  are  of  world-wide  extent,  and  that  simi- 
lar stories  prevail  amidst  widely  different  languages. 
Savages  regard  all  objects  as  personal  and  allied  to 
themselves.  Uncle  Remus  extends  his  faculties  to 
"Brer  Rabbit."  Fabulous  stories  naturally  arise 
from  this  habit  of  mind. 

The  Old  Testament  contains  many  wonderful  nar- 
rations, which  are  paralleled  in  the  literature  of  all 
nations.  The  creation  of  the  world  is  said  in  Persian 
legend  to  have  been  divided  into  six  parts  by  Ormuzd, 
and  on  the  sixth  day  he  made  Adama  and  Evah,  who 
were  tempted  by  a  serpent  and  fell.  The  Babylo- 
nians had  this  legend  fifteen  hundred  years  before 
the  Hebrews  heard  of  it.  The  Hindoos  and  Egyp- 
tians had  legends  of  the  Tree  of  Life ;  and  in  China, 
Madagascar,  Scandinavia,  and  Mexico  similar  stories 
have  prevailed.  The  deluge  story  is  common  to  all 
lands,  and  arose  from  freshets,  eruptions,  and  subsi- 


28  HEBREW   MYTHOLOGY. 

dences  of  the  earth.  The  sacrifice  of  Isaac  corre- 
spouds  to  the  tales  of  the  Hindoos  and  Greeks,  all 
doubtless  composed  to  discourage  human  sacrifices. 
Jacob's  ladder  expresses  the  belief  in  the  transmi- 
gration of  souls,  the  Egyptians  having  pigs  and 
monkeys  on  their  ladders  to  represent  wicked  men. 
The  stone  pillar  was  a  phallic  emblem  of  the  re- 
productive powers  of  nature.  The  marvels  of  the 
Exodus  are  equaled  in  the  feats  of  Bacchus,  who 
changed  his  rod  into  a  serpent  and  crossed  the  Red 
Sea  with  an  army  dryshod.  He  divided  the  waters 
of  the  rivers  Orontes  and  Hydaspus,  drew  water  from 
a  rock,  and  in  other  ways  did  deeds  ascribed  to 
Moses.  All  nations  have  had  revelations  on  mount- 
ains, and  Buddha's  ten  commandments  are  in  some 
respects  superior  to  those  of  Moses.  Samson  is  a 
counterpart  of  Hercules  and  the  Babylonian  hero 
Izdubar.  Samson  is  the  Arabic  word  for  sun,  and 
the  story  represents  the  struggle  of  the  sun  for  six 
months  with  mist  and  darkness.  Jonah  is  also  a 
name  for  the  sun,  which  was  fabled  to  be  swallowed 
by  night  for  three  days  at  the  winter  solstice,  De- 
cember 22d  to  25th.  Hercules  was  swallowed  by  a 
whale  at  Joppa,  and  retained  three  days.  Numerous 
heroes  have  had  the  same  experience,  and  Little  Red 
Riding  Hood,  who  was  swallowed  by  the  wolf,  repre- 
sents the  same  natural  event,  the  sun's  conquest  by 
night.  Joshua  had  many  imitators  in  stopping  the 
sun,  and  one  of  Buddha's  disciples  cut  the  moon  iui 
two.  Parallels  to  Elijah's  ascent  in  the  chariot, 
David  and  Goliath,  Balaam's  ass,  the  confusion  oil 
tongues,  in  fact  all  the  incidents  of  Hebrew  uarra-l 


HEBREW   MYTHOLOGY.  29 

tion,  are  met  with  in  the  mythologies  and  legends  of 
other  nations. 

Christians  have  maintained  that  the  Bible  stories 
are  true,  but  all  others  are  imitations,  and  prove  the 
genuineness  of  the  Hebrew  tales  as  a  counterfeit 
proves  the  existence  of  a  genuine  coin.  But  it  has 
been  conclusively  shown  that  many  of  these  legends 
were  borrowed  from  other  nations  by  the  Hebrews 
and  were  not  first  revealed  to  them.  George  Smith 
found  cuneiform  inscriptions  made  two  thousand 
years  before  Christ,  which  prove  that  the  Babylonians 
then  possessed  ancient  legends  of  the  creation  fuller 
in  some  respects  than  those  of  the  Hebrews.  Many 
of  these  stories  were  unknown  to  the  Hebrews  before 
the  captivity  and  were  learned  in  exile.  Max  Miiller 
says,  "The  opinion  that  the  pagan  religions  were 
mere  corruptions  of  the  religion  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, is  now  as  completely  surrendered  as  the  at- 
tempt of  explaining  Greek  and  Latin  as  the  corrup- 
tions of  Hebrew."  The  writings  of  Miiller,  Baring- 
Gould,  John  Fiske,  Andrew  Lang,  the  compilations 
of  the  author  of  "  Bible  Myths,"  and  numerous  others 
have  established  the  opinion  that  the  Old  Testament 
stories  are  either  borrowed  from  other  literature,  or 
are  the  mythical  explanations  of  nature's  marvels 
such  as  are  invented  by  all  savage  or  unenlightened 
people.  This  view  is  so  {generally  accepted  that  the 
articles  in  the  standard  encyclopedias  are  based 
upon  it,  and  there  is  no  longer  controversy  upon  the 
subject  among  scholars ;    and  yet  we  have  the  as- 

Itounding  fact  that  in  churches  and  Sunday-schools 
these  fables  are  taught  as  truths.  Who  is  respon- 
sible  for  keeping  the  people  in  this  ignorance  ?    Do 


I 


30  HEBIIEW   MYTHOLOGY. 

not  the  ministera  Lnow  these  things,  aiul  cau  they 
justify  their  silence  by  the  plea  that  the  people  are 
not  able  to  bear  the  light  of  knowledge  ?  Is  not 
falsehood  always  injurious  to  those  who  entertain  it, 
and  is  not  deception  ever  degrading  to  tho^e  who 
practice  it?  Mankind  are  perishing  for  lack  of 
knowledge  of  natural  laws,  and  yet  one  day  in  seven 
is  devoted  to  teaching  them  fables  that  originated  in 
the  childhood  of  the  world,  and  that  the  learning  and 
common  sense  of  the  unbiased,  educated  mind  have 
outgrown- 


rilE  PAGAN  O  RIG  IN  OF  CHRIS- 
TIANITY. 

Christianity  is  not  a  revelation,  but  it  is  a  devel- 
opment, having  its  roots  in  the  religious  soil  of  early 
pagan  ideas.  Renan  says:  "Nearly  everything  in 
Christianity  is  mere  baggage  brought  from  the  pagan 
mysteries."  Its  central  idea  is  that  God  became  man 
in  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ ;  but  the  dogma  of  in- 
carnation is  common  to  all  nations,  and  was  believed 
long  before  the  Christian  era.  The  author  of  "  Bible 
Myths"  mentions  forty-eight  persons  born  of  virgins; 
and  Kersey  Graves  has  written  the  stories  of  "  Six- 
teen Crucified  Saviors."  In  India,  900  B.C.,  Chrishna 
was  born  of  the  virgin  Devaki,  and,  500  B.C.,  Buddha 
was  born  of  the  virgin  Maya.  In  Egypt,  Horus  and 
his  virgin  mother,  Isis,  were  worshiped  long  before 
the  time  of  Christ ;  and  their  black  images  and  pict- 
ures were  adopted  in  Romish  churches  to  represent 
Jesus  and  Mary.  Justin  Martyr  (a.d.  140),  in  his 
apology  to  the  Emperor  Adrian,  says  :  "  As  to  his 
(Jesus  Christ)  having  been  born  of  a  virgin,  you  have 
your  Perseus  to  balance  that." 

The  history  of  the  man-gods  is  very  similar.  They 
were  usually  born  on  Christmas  day,  in  caves  or 
humble  places,  when  the  mother  was  on  a  journey. 
The  heavenly  bodies  gave  signs  of  their  birth  ;  they 
were  visited  by  wise  men,  pursued  by  a  king,  and 


82"  THE  PAGAN  ORIGIN  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

tempted  by  the  devil.  They  worked  miracles,  died 
and  rose  again,  and  were  to  return  and  reform  the 
world. 

Modern  Christians  have  claimed  that  these  stories 
arose  after  the  time  of  Jesus  and  were  distortions  of 
his  true  life.  But  the  early  Christian  fathers  knew 
i^jtter,  and  claimed  that  Satan  had  stolen  God's  de- 
signs and  made  spurious  issues  in  advance.  Hence 
the  saying,  "The  devil  has  his  Christs."  Modern 
scholarship  has  demonstrated  t]ie  priority  of  many  of 
these  stories  to  the  story  of  Jesus. 

The  doctrine  of  the  trinity  was  held  by  the  Brah- 
mans,  who  worshiped  Brahma,  Yishnu,  and  Siva,  and 
by  the  Buddhists,  who  reverenced  "  the  three  pure, 
precious,  and  honorable  Fo "  (Buddha).  The  term 
Logos,  or  Word,  was  applied  to  Apollo ;  and  the 
Holy  Ghost  is  symbolized  by  the  dove  of  Venus. 

The  sacrament  of  bread  and  wine  was  observed  in 
honor  of  Osiris,  the  risen  god  of  ancient  Egypt,  and 
of  Mithra,  the  Persian  savior.  The  Greeks  said  that 
Ceres  gave  flesh  to  eat  and  Bacchus  blood  to  drink. 

Baptism  was  a  universal  custom.  Buddhists  dipped 
three  times  and  Brahmans  sprinkled.  Persians  dipped 
to  Mithra  and  marked  adults  with  the  sign  of  the 
cross.  Confirmation  at  the  age  of  fifteen  was  also 
practiced  by  the  ancient  Persians. 

The  cross  is  a  world-wide  symbol  of  vast  antiquity, 
probably  originating  as  a  phallic  emblem,  a  symbol 
of  the  male  generative  organs.  In  the  museum  of 
London  University  there  is  a  mummy  with  a  cross  onl 
its  breast.  An  ancient  race  in  North  Italy  reverencedl 
the  cross  a  thousand  years  before  Christ.  The  sigrl 
of  the  cross  that  Constantino  saw  in  vision  was  thel 


THE  PAGAN  ORIGIN  OF  CHBISTIANITY.  83 

monogram  of  Osiris  and  Jupiter  Ammon.  I.  H.  S. 
was  the  monogram  of  Bacchus. 

Festivals  to  saints  and  martyrs  replaced  pagan 
festivals.  Faustus  wrote  to  St.  Augustine :  "  Nothing 
distinguishes  you  from  the  pagans,  except  that  you 
hold  your  assemblies  apart  from  them."  St.  Gregoi'y, 
bishop  of  Neo-Ceesarea  A.D.  240,  was  commended  by 
Gregory  of  Nyas?  ;,  for  changing  the  pagan  festivals 
into  Christian  holidays,  the  better  to  draw  the 
heathen  to  the  religion  of  Christ.  The  25th  of 
March,  observed  by  G-jeeks  and  Romans  in  honor  of 
the  mother  of  the  gods,  is  now  Lady  Day,  and  the 
festival  of  the  Conception  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary 
is  held  on  the  day  of  the  festival  of  the  blessed  virgin 
Juno.  Christmas  was  the  birthday  of  the  gods,  and 
was  the  ancient  feasi  of  the  sun,  that  then  returns 
after  the  winter  solstice.  Our  manner  of  observing 
it  was  condemned  by  Tertullian,  a.d.  200,  who  said  it 
was  "rank  idolatry"  to  deck  doors  with  ''garlands 
or  flowers  on  festival  days  according  to  the  custom 
of  the  heathen." 

The  fish  is  an  emblem  of  deity.  Dag  is  Hebrew 
for  fish,  and  Dagon  was  a  fish  god.  The  fish  was 
sacred  to  Yenus,  and  was  eaten  on  Friday  in  her 
honor,  as  it  now  is  devoted  to  Jesus. 

Good  Friday  and  Easter  were  observed  in  honor 
of  Adonis,  and  Easter  takes  its  name  from  the  Saxon 
goddess  Ostara,  whose  festival  was  observed  on  that 
day. 

All  the  doctrines  that  are  deemed  essential  to 
I  Christianity  are  the  outgrowths  of  earlier  beliefs. 
Atonement  was  made  not  only  by  animals,  but  by 
[men  and  gods.     The  title  mediator  was  applied  to 


84  THE  PAGAN   ORIGIN   OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

Mithra  in  Persia.  Regeneration,  or  being  born  again, 
was  symbolized  by  a  person  passing  through  clefts  in 
rocks,  as  though  born  out  of  the  earth.  The  end  of 
the  world,  the  day  of  judgment,  and  future  punish- 
ment were  matters  of  belief  in  remote  times. 

Beligion,  beginning,  perhaps,  with  Nature  worship 
or  sun  worship,  has  gradually  evolved  its  existing 
forms ;  and  the  evolution  of  religion  is  now  as  clearly 
f  itablished  as  is  the  evolution  of  all  other  character- 
istics of  life  and  of  the  universe.  The  same  laws  have 
controled  the  development  of  all.  There  has  been 
neither  miracle  nor  revelation,  but  natural  selection 
and  the  su;:vival  of  the  fittest  have  determined  the 
form  of  beliefs  as  well  as  the  development  of  natural 
objects. 

The  Essenes,  a  sect  of  advanced  Pharisees,  were 
probably  the  immediate  originators  of  both  Chris- 
tianity and  Mohammedanism.  A  branch  called  Ther- 
apeutsB  held  similar  doctrines  to  those  afterward 
adopted  by  Christians.  The  Rev.  Robert  Taylor 
wrote  the  "Diegesis,"  showing  the  origin  of  the 
Christian  gospels  and  doctrines  from  Egyptian  and 
other  Oriental  sources ;  and,  having  been  imprisoned 
in  England  for  it,  he  said :  "  Those  who  offer  truth 
to  the  Christian  community  must  ever  provide  for 
their  escape  for  so  doing." 

The  author  of  "  Bible  Myths  "  says  at  the  close  of j 
his  voluminous  account  of  the  correspondences  be- 
tween Christianity  and  paganism :  "  We  have  seen, 
then,  that  the  only  difference  between  Christianityl 
and  paganism  is  that  Brahma,  Ormuzd,  Osiris,  Zeusj 
Jupiter,  etc.,  are  called  by  another  name;  ChrishnaJ 
Buddha,  Bacchus,  Adonis,  Mithras,  etc.,  have  beeiJi 


THE  PAGAN  OKIGIN  OP  CHRISTIANITY.      ,         35 

turned  into  Jesus  ;  Venus's  pigeons  into  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  Diana,  Isis,  Devaki,  etc.,  into  the  Virgin  Mary, 
and  the  demigods  and  heroes  into  saints.  The  ex- 
ploits of  the  one  are  represented  as  the  miracles  of 
the  other.  Pagan  festivals  became  Christian  holi- 
days, and  pagan  temples  became  Christian  churches." 
Every  Christian  doctrine,  rite,  and  symbol  can  be 
shown  to  have  preexisted  in  pagan  usage.  Therefore 
they  cannot  have  been  revealed  at  the  time  of  Christ. 
Christianity  is  thus  proved  to  be  an  evolution  out  of 
older  beliefs,  and  takes  its  place  in  the  universal 
brotherhood  of  religions  made  by  men.  Books  in 
large  numbers  may  be  found  that  tell  these  things, 
but  the  influence  of  the  clergy  prevents  their  being 
read.  People  should  heed  the  advice  of  Buddha, 
"Do  not  believe  merely  on  the  authority  of  your 
teachers  and  masters,  or  believe  and  practice  merely 
because  thej  believed  and  practiced." 


MODERN  CRITICISM  OF  THE 

BIBLE. 

Criticism  is  the  art  of  pointing  out  the  merits 
or  defects  of  a  production.  Literary  criticism — the 
analysis,  comparison,  and  estimation  of  writings — has 
almost  come  to  mean  fault-finding,  so  keen  has  been 
the  analysis.  To  this  there  is  one  marked  exception. 
Concerning  the  Bible,  only  favorable  criticism  is 
tolerated.  In  the  past,  the  dungeon,  axe,  and  fagot, 
and  in  later  times  obloquy  and  social  ostracism,  have 
been  reserved  for  the  daring  investigator  who  pre- 
sumed to  see  aught  but  perfection  in  "  the  word  of 
God." 

The  demand  for  evidence,  that  proof  shall  precede 
belief,  is  now  made  even  to  the  claims  the  church 
presents  for  the  Bible,  for,  as  Matthew  Arnold  says, 
"  We  must  accept  what  is  verified,  not  what  is  as- 
sumed." 

The  spirit  of  modern  criticism  of  the  Bible  is 
marked  by  reverence,  fairness,  and  judicial  calmness,! 
and  is  in  strong  contrast  to  the  antagonism  shown] 
by  such  writers  as  Paine,  Voltaire,  and  their  modernj 
successors.     It  holds  that  the  Bible  can  be  studiec 
like  all  other  books,  yet  treated  reverently ;   anc 
those  who  write  most  destructively   lavish  prais( 
whenever  it  is  possible. 

The  method  of  modern  criticism  consists  in  schol-l 


MODERN   CRITICISM   OP   THE   BIBLE.  37 

arly  research,  in  contrast  with  Paine's  method  of 
appealing  to  reason  and  common  sense  to  show  the 
absurdity  of  Bible  statements.  It  studies  the  com- 
parison of  religions.  It  compares  the  sacred  books 
of  all  nations.  It  studies  folk-lore  and  traces  the 
growth  of  similar  fables  in  different  climes.  It  makes 
minute  examination  of  the  text  and  history  of  the 
Bible,  and  analyzes  its  contents  with  the  closeness 
and  impartiality  that  pertain  to  the  chemist's  labora- 
tory. 

The  results  of  modern  criticism  of  the  Bible  estab- 
lish the  fact  that  the  book  contains  a  collection  of 
Hebrew  literature,  fragmentary  and  of  mixed  and 
uncertain  authorship,  extending  over  a  period  of  a 
thousand  years.  These  writings,  when  compared 
with  other  sacred  books  and  the  histories  of  other 
people,  show  that  the  Hebrews  claim  descent  from 
Terah,  on  the  same  principle  that  led  tlie  Greeks  to 
trace  descent  from  Hellen  and  the  Bomans  from 
Bomulus,  and  all  are  equally  fabulous.  Their  re- 
ligion was  first  fetishism,  then  the  worship  of  various 
goas,  and  finally  of  their  chief  God  Yahweh  (Jeho- 
vah). Their  history  was  preserved  by  oral  tradition 
till  about  the  end  of  the  ninth  century  before  Christ, 
five  hundred  years  after  the  time  of  Moses.  Then 
books  began  to  be  written,  and  were  edited  and  re- 
edited,  each  editor  altering  or  adding  as  he  felt  it 
desirable.  The  writing  was  in  consonants,  without 
vowels  or  punctuation,  and  different  words  could  be 
made  from  the  same  letters.  The  manuscripts  had 
to  be  copied  by  pen,  and  the  writers  were  liable  to 
mistakes. 

The  oldest  manuscripts  of  the  Old  Testament  now 


t 


38  MODERN   CRITICISM    OP   THE    BIBLE. 

extant  were  written  in  the  ninth  century  a.d.,  but 
they  probably  do  not  differ  much  from  those  of  the 
first  century,  when  it  is  thought  one  standard  reading 
was  adopted,  and  the  many  varying  copies  were  sup- 
pressed, just  as  Caliph  Othman  destroyed  all  copies 
of  the  Koran  which  diverged  from  the  standard  text 
that  he  had  adopted. 

Most  of  the  books  of  the  Bible  are  anonymous, 
and  names  of  authors  have  been  supplied.  The 
Pentateuch,  called  the  books  of  Moses,  probably 
contains  nothing  written  by  Moses  except  the  basis 
of  the  ten  commandments.  Samuel,  David,  and 
Elijah  showed  no  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  Leviti- 
cus, and  no  writer  before  the  Babylonish  captivity, 
588  B.C.,  mentions  Adam,  Eden,  the  fall,  or  the  flood. 
It  is  therefore  clear  that  these  things  could  not  have 
become  known  at  an  earlier  date.  Robertson  Smith 
says  :  "  It  is  impossible  that  God  laid  down  rules  in 
the  wilderness  that  had  no  part  in  Israel's  history 
for  one  thousand  years." 

Two  different  stories  of  the  creation  are  given  in 
the  first  and  second  chapters  of  Genesis.  Beautiful 
Sarah,  who  bewitched  kings  and  caused  Abraham  to 
lie,  was  ninety  years  old ;  baby  Ishmael  was  fifteen 
to  twenty  years  old,  and  little  Benjamin  was  the 
father  of  ten  children.  Conflicting  stories  of  the 
flood  are  given,  and  many  discrepancies  and  contra- 
dictions are  noted.  An  explanation  is  found  in  the 
discovery  that  different  documents  have  been  inter- 
woven ;  two  of  these  are  known  as  the  Elohistic  and 
Jehovistic,  from  the  fact  that  one  always  speaks  of 
God  as  Elohim  and  the  other  as  Jehovah  (Yahweh). 
These  two  writings  are  traced  to  the  end  of  the  book 


MODllRN    CRITICISM    OP    THE    BIBLE.  39 

of  Joshua.  Geographical  names  are  mentioned  which 
were  not  given  to  the  phices  till  long  after  Moses's 
death,  and  events  are  referred  to  not  known  for  hun- 
dreds of  years  later. 

There  is  good  evidence  that  the  Pentateuch  was 
compiled  in  three  parts :  first,  about  750  B.C.,  the 
Yahvist  narrative  beginning  with  Gen.  ii,  4 ;  second, 
about  620  B.C.,  a  priest  wrote  Deuteronomy,  and 
Josiah  introduced  it;  third,  after  the  return  from 
captivity,  about  444  B.C.,  Ezra  rearranged  the  books 
and  introduced  Leviticus,  drawn  up  by  priests  in 
Babylon. 

Judges  refers  to  the  captivity,  and  that  part  of  it 
certainly  could  not  have  been  written  earlier.  The 
historical  books  show  the  writings  of  different  periods. 
Samuel  says  Yahweh  tempted  David,  but  Chronicles 
says  Satan  tempted  him.  The  latter  was  written 
after  the  captivity,  when  Satan  had  been  remodeled 
after  the  Persian  Ahriman.  Most  of  the  first  thirty- 
nine  chapters  of  Isaiah  were  written  about  740-710 
B.C.,  but  from  the  fortieth  chapter  we  have  writ- 
ings later  than  the  captivity,  probably  545-530  B.C. 
Zechariah  is  thought  to  contain  three  different  writ- 
ings. The  Psalms  are  a  collection  of  poems  extend- 
ing over  five  hundred  years  ;  there  are  only  a  few 
that  scholars  agree  in  attributing  to  the  authorship 
of  David.  Proverbs  is  a  similar  collection.  The 
last  written  book  of  the  Old  Testament  is  Daniel, 
which  is  composite  as  to  authorship  and  of  different 
dates,  but  has  parts  not  older  than  165  B.C.  It  con- 
tains past  events  recorded  u;ider  the  guise  of  proph- 
ecy. 

The  oldest  books  are  thought  to  be  Song  of  Solo- 


40  MODERN    CRITICISM    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

men,  Amos,  Hosea,  Zechariali  ix-xi,  Isaiah  i-xxvii, 
and  Micah. 

The  scribes  collected  all  the  approved  writings 
into  three  books,  the  Law,  the  Prophets,  and  the 
Psalms  or  Sacred  Writings,  but  additions  were  occa- 
sionally made,  and  a  number  of  books  referred  to  in 
the  Old  Testament  are  lost. 

The  Babylonian  captivity  changed  the  Hebrew  re- 
ligious ideas  greatly,  driving  out  idolatrous  notions 
and  bringing  in  beliefs  in  angels,  devils,  the  future 
life,  judgment,  and  the  resurrection.  Then  Greek 
influence  became  ascendant  for  two  hundred  years. 
Many  Jews  went  to  Alexandria,  and  Egyptian  ideas 
were  gained.  Then  came  Rome's  control,  and  out  of 
these  varying  religions  Christianity  was  born. 

The  books  of  the  New  Testament  grew  as  did  those 
of  the  Old.  The  earliest  writings  are  some  of  Paul's 
epistles.  After  his  death  some  one  wrote  Hebrews 
to  exalt  faith,  and  another  writer  produced  James  to 
uphold  works.  Revelation  was  probably  written  just 
before  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  to  comfort  Christians 
with  the  assurance  of  the  speedy  triumphant  return 
of  the  crucified  Messiah.  As  Jesus  failed  to  return, 
traditions  of  his  life  were  gathered,  and  four  "  Gos- 
pels" have  been  preserved.  Some  fifty  Gospels, 
thirty-five  books  of  Acts,  and  one  hundred  Epistles 
have  been  rejected,  and  more  than  fifty  works  of  the 
second  century,  that  would  have  thrown  great  light 
upon  the  New  Testament,  have  mysteriously  disap- 
peared, probably  destroyed  by  the  sectarian  zeal  of 
the  Christian  Fathers. 

The  first  clear  mention  of  any  of  our  Gospels  was 
by  Theophilus  of  Antioch,  180  A.D.,  who  mentions 


MODERN    CRITIOISM    OP    THE    BIBLE.  41 

John's  Gospels.  Irenoous,  about  200  a.d.,  first  men- 
tions the  four  Gospels.  The  author  of  "  Supernatural 
Religion  "  examines  every  supposed  quotation  before 
150  A.D.,  and  shows  that  none  agree  exactly  with  our 
Gospels.  It  therefore  is  probable  that  they  were 
not  written  in  their  present  form  till  after  that  date. 

It  is  found  that  the  authors  of  the  gospels  of 
.  Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke  have  evidently  copied 
from  some  earlier  record,  and  by  writing  out  this 
triple  tradition,  in  which  they  all  agree,  a  story  is 
given  of  Jesus  as  a  purely  human  person,  an  enthu- 
siastic prophet,  who  hoped  to  bring  about  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  kingdom  of  righteousness  on  earth. 
This  story  omits  the  genealogies,  miraculous  incar- 
nation, the  details  of  infancy,  the  greatest  miracles, 
the  resurrection,  and  ascension.  To  this  narrative, 
tradition  gradually  added  more  marNelous  incidents, 
and  writers  in  the  second  century  compiled  the  ex- 
isting materials. 

John's  Gospel  is  supposed  to  be  written  by  some 
one  who  had  imbibed  the  Alexandrine  doctrines  of 
.  Philo,  who  taught  that  matter  and  God  were  eternal, 
and  God  worked  on  matter  by  powers,  the  highest  of 
which  was  the  Logos.  This  author  borrowed  the  idea, 
and  made  Jesus  the  Logos  or  Word. 

A  controversy  between  Peter  and  Paul  was  con- 
tinued and  extended  by  factions  after  the  death  of 
the  apostles,  and  each  selected  the  writings  support- 
ing his  views.  Majorities  in  councils  finally  chose 
,  out  a  few  writings  to  form  the  New  Testament,  and 
by  degrees  they  came  to  be  considered  inspired. 
Some  books  were  long  in  dispute.  The  present 
Catholic  Bible  was  only  settled  by  the  Council  of 


42  MODERl^   CRITtCISM  OP  THE  BIBLE. 

Trent  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and  the  Protestant 
canon  was  settled  by  the  Westminster  Assembly  in 
the  seventeenth  century.  We  have  no  manuscript 
earlier  than  the  fourth  century,  and  only  five  earlier 
than  the  tenth  century,  a.d. 

The  comparison  of  religions,  the  study  of  folk-lore 
and  of  sacred  books,  reveal  the  fact  that  the  miracles 
and  dogmas  of  the  Bible  correspond  to  the  beliefs  of 
all  other  peoples,  and  the  Hebrew  religion  and  its 
writings  take  their  place  in  the  record  of  the  orderly 
evolution  of  human  ideas. 

The  results  obtained  completely  overthrow  the 
theory  of  verbal  inspiration,  for  it  would  have  been 
of  no  use  unless  the  copyists  had  been  inspired. 
Griesbach  has  noted  150,000  different  readings  in  the 
manuscripts  of  the  New  Testament.  Modern  authors 
always  read  proof,  and  are  we  to  suppose  that  God 
is  less  intelligent  than  man?  If  he  gave  an  inspired 
message,  would  he  not  have  revised  the  copies  ?  He 
even  neglected  to  keep  his  own  name  correct,  for 
Yahweh  was  wrongly  written  Jehovah. 

The  theory  of  inspiration  held  by  modern  critics  is 
this :  That,  as  in  the  process  of  evolution  the  Greeks 
produced  the  best  art  and  the  Romans  the  best  laws, 
so  the  Hebrews  developed  the  best  religious  ideas ; 
and  we  accept  Greek  statues,  Roman  laws,  and  He- 
brew books  upon  their  merits  as  the  best  of  their 
kind,  but  differing  from  the  works  of  other  people 
only  in  degree,  not  in  the  nature  of  their  origin. 
Renan  says  :  "  The  Bible  is  more  beautiful  when  we 
have  learned  to  see  therein,  ranged  in  order  on  a 
canvas  of  a  thousand  years,  each  aspiration,  each 
sigh,  each  prayer  of  the  most  exalted  religious  con- 


MODERN  CRITICISM  OF  THE  BIBLE.  43 

sciousness  that  ever  existed,  than  when  we  force  our- 
selves to  view  it  as  a  book  unlike  any  other,  com- 
posed, preserved,  interpreted  in  direct  opposition  to 
all  the  ordinary  rules  of  the  human  intellect." 

Many  of  the  greatest  scholars  of  the  world  now 
hold  the  opinions  referred  to,  but  it  is  asked,  if  these 
things  are  true,  why  do  we  not  hear  thera  from  our 
pulpits  ?  Let  an  eminent  orthodox  minister  answer. 
He  wrote  to  a  friend :  "  I  do,  without  any  conceal- 
ment, declare  that  I  do  not  believe  the  whole  Bible 
to  be  true,  that  there  are  human  additions  and  inter- 
polations, that,  in  fact,  Robertson  Smith  is  right  in 
the  view  he  takes.  Must  I  say  all  I  think  to  the 
weak  and  stupid  public — for  such  it  is  ?  I  never  say 
anything  I  don't  believe.  I  only  act  on  Christ's  own 
principle,  '  I  have  many  things  to  say  unto  you,  but 
you  cannot  bear  them  now.'  Yes,  God  is  afraid  of  up- 
setting weak  minds,  if  Christ  echoed  the  divine  view 
of  things  in  that  statement."  Consideration  for  the 
feeble  minds  of  "  the  weak  and  stupid  public  "  leads 
many  ministers  to  withhold  these  results  till  the 
people,  in  their  opinion,  "are  able  to  bear  it." 

We  would  not  destroy  the  Bible,  but  we  would 
destroy  bibliolatry.  We  would  rescue  this  valuable 
book  from  the  bad  use  men  have  made  of  it,  dishonor- 
ing to  "  God  "  and  degrading  to  man.  "  We  won't 
give  up  the  Bible  ;"  but  on  the  shelf,  where  we  place 
our  choicest  books,  with  Homer,  Shakespeare,  Mac- 
aulay,  Emerson,  Longfellow,  there  will  we  place  this 
noble  collection  of  Hebrew  literature. 


PROPHECY. 

The  power  to  foretell  future  events  has  always 
been  considered  a  proof  of  divine  inspiration.  The 
belief  that  the  Bible  writers  have  had  this  gift  has 
been  one  of  the  strongest  bulwarks  of  the  claim  that 
this  book  is  the  "Word  of  God."  Alleged  fuKilment 
of  the  prophecies  concerning  Jesus,  the  dispersion  of 
the  Jews,  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  sway 
of  the  pope  of  Home,  have  been  among  the  strongest 
means  of  compelling  faith,  and  have  led  to  eager  but 
fantastic  efforts  to  discern  the  whole  course  of  the 
future,  wrapped  up  in  the  mystic  visions  of  the  holy 
seers,  to  be  unfolded  by  any  student  who  possessed 
the  aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Vast  arrays  of  learning, 
exercises  of  ingenious  fancy,  and  amounts  of  time 
have  been  expended  in  these  researches ;  and  multi- 
tudes are  still  squandering  precious  opportunities  in 
this  matching  of  texts  with  past  events  and  guesses 
at  their  application  to  things  to  come. 

Modern  scholarship  joined  with  common  sense  has 
shown  that  every  claimed  fulfilment  of  Bible  proph- 
ecy is  fairly  met  by  the  explanation  of  coincidence, 
forgery,  invention,  or  the  correct  date  of  the  writings. 
The  entire  claim  for  the  inspiration  of  the  Bible  on 
the  score  of  its  prophecies  is  completely  overthrown 
by  their  examination.  It  requires  no  scholarship  to 
trace  the  alleged  prophecies  of  Christ ;  any  one  with 


PROPHECY.  45 

a  reference  Bible  can  do  it,  and  will  find  that  most  of 
the  prophecies  have  no  reference  to  Jesus,  or,  where 
they  seem  to  have  such,  the  probability  is  that  the 
event  has  been  recorded  so  as  to  fit  the  prediction. 
Thomas  Paine  made  a  good  "  Examination  of  the 
passages  in  the  New  Testament,  quoted  from  the 
Old,  and  called  Prophecies  of  tha  coming  of  Jesus 
Christ."  It  is  what  every  one  can  do  for  himself ;  so 
it  may  merely  be  said  that  the  result  is  to  show  that 
no  such  prophecies  exist,  but  that  the  passages 
quoted  allude  to  other  events  transpiring  in  the 
times  of  the  writers. 

The  book  of  Daniel  has  been  the  great  treasure- 
house  of  prophecy-seekers.  But  all  results  are  ex- 
ploded by  the  now  well-established  fact  that  the 
story,  which  purports  to  deal  with  events  occurring 
nearly  six  hundred  years  before  Christ,  was  actually 
written,  or  compiled  in  its  present  form,  between  168 
and  164  B.C.,  and  its  prophecies  refer  to  events  then 
past,  or  to  those  transpiring  in  connection  with  the 
persecutions  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes  and  the  wars 
of  the  Maccabees.  A  few  interpolations  have  been 
made  by  later  hands.  The  book  becomes  intelliijible 
viewed  from  this  standpoint,  and  all  its  mystery  is 
dispelled. 

Prophecies  of  the  Jews  are  disposed  of  by  the  dis- 
covery of  the  dates  of  the  writings,  which  show  that 
they  were  written  after  the  event,  or  were  merely 
guesses  of  events  so  near  and  probable  that  it  re- 
quired no  wisdom  to  foretell  them. 

The  book  of  Bevelation  is  the  storehouse  for  pre- 
dictions against  the  pope,  or  for  the  coming  of 
Christ,  according  as  one  belongs  to  the  post-millen- 


46  .  PROPHECY. 

narian  or  pre-millennarian  schools.  So  obscure  is 
this  "Divine  Eevelation,"  that  Christians  cannot 
agree  as  to  whether  it  has  been  fulfilled  in  whole,  in 
part,  or  not  at  all,  there  being  earnest  and  learned 
advocates  for  each  theory.  An  Andover  professor 
once  said  to  his  students,  "  The  study  of  the  book  of 
Eevelation  either  finds  or  leaves  a  man  crazy."  So 
uncertain  a  revelation  scarcely  can  be  termed  divine 
without  serious  implications  against  divinity.  The 
genuineness  and  authenticity  of  this  book  have  been 
in  great  dispute.  It  was  -said  by  early  fathers  to  be 
a  forgery  of  Cerinthus ;  for  a  thousand  years  it  was 
not  recognized  by  a  majority  of  the  Greek  church, 
and  it  was  opposed  by  Luther.  The  establishment 
of  the  date  of  its  composition,  and  a  study  of  the 
history  of  that  time,  make  clear  its  intent.  The 
book  was  probably  written  between  64  and  70  a.d. 
The  first  part  between  64  and  68  A.D.,  when  the 
temple  was  uninjured  and  Jerusalem  standing,  and 
the  latter  part  between  68  and  70  a.d.  It  was  written 
to  console  Christians  in  that  time  of  persecution. 
The  Anti-Christ  was  Nero,  who  was  popularly  sup- 
posed not  to  be  dead,  but  to  have  escaped  to  Parthia. 
His  return  and  destruction  would  introduce  the  mil- 
lennium. The  number  of  the  beast,  666,  applies  as 
well  to  his  name  as  to  the  hundred  others  with  whom 
it  has  been  connected.  The  book  contains  a  veiled 
history  of  Nero  and  his  times,  and  a  prophecy  of  a 
millennium  which  failed  of  fulfilment. 

If  one  would  study  Bible  prophecies,  let  him  first 
consult  the  most  scholarly  authorities  as  to  the  dates 
of  the  writings,  then  let  him  study  the  history  of 
corresponding  times,  and  see  if  events  then  past  or 


PBOPHEOY.  '  47 

near  at  hand  do  not  satisfactorily  account  for  the 
subject-matter.  The  overthrow  of  belief  in  prophecy 
will  put  an  end  to  a  great  waste  of  intellect,  and 
allow  the  ingenious  minds  now  wandering  in  the 
mazes  of  Oriental  mysticism  to  devote  their  powers 
to  the  discovery  of  those  secrets  of  nature  which  may 
be  practically  applied  to  the  present  welfare  and 
advancement  of  mankind. 


THE  RESURRECTION  OF  JESUS. 

The  resurrection  of  Jesus  is  the  foundation  of 
Christianity.  Paul  so  taught,  for  he  says :  "  If 
Christ  be  not  raised,  your  faith  is  vain ;"  and  such 
writers  as  Dean  Mansel  and  Canon  Farrar  admit 
that  in  this  instance  "  the  entire  Christian  faith  must 
stand  or  fall  with  our  belief  in  the  supernatural," 
and  if  it  is  not  a  fact,  "  then  our  religion  has  been 
founded  upon  an  error."  Nothing  concerning  Jesus 
need  be  deemed  incredible  if  this  event  is  proved. 
But  proof  is  demanded.  An  excellent  bishop  says : 
"  Here  and  there  to-day  there  is  a  demand  for  proofs 
of  religion — a  wicked  and  adulterous  generation  seek- 
ing after  a  sign."  This  marks  the  distinction  between 
superstition  and  science — one  submits  to  authority, 
the  other  examines.  Surely  such  a  marvelous  event 
should  produce  its  evidence. 

In  vain  do  we  search  contemporaneous  history : 
Philo,  Josephus,  Seneca,  Pliny,  Diogenes,  Pausanias, 
Suetonius,  and  a  dozen  other  writers  of  the  first  and 
second  centuries,  mention  neither  Jesus  nor  his  res- 
urrection. The  early  fathers  felt  this  such  a  blow 
to  their  claims  that  they  forged  a  passage  in  Jose- 
phus, mentioning  Jesus. 

The  only  accounts  of  the  resurrection  are  to  be 
found  in  the  four  gospels,  which  are  proved  by  modern 
scholarship  to  have  been  compiled  from  traditions, 


THE  RESURRECTION  OP  JESUS.  49 

and  put  in  the  present  form  at  least  a  century  after 
the  alleged  date  of  the  death  of  Jesus.  The  earliest 
writer  who  alludes  to  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  as  a 
fact,  is  Paul,  who  wrote  about  a.d.  68.  He  is  the  only 
person  who  says  he  saw  the  risen  Jesus,  and  it  is  clear 
that  he  only  saw  him  in  a  vision.  He  says  that 
Cephas,  James,  and  all  the  apostles  saw  him ;  but 
Peter,  James,  John,  and  Jude  wrote  epistles,  and 
make  no  mention  of  any  such  experience.  He  says 
he  was  seen,  of  "  above  five  hundred  brethren  at 
once,"  but  this  is  only  hearsay  evidence  and  lacks 
confirmation.  There  is  no  direct  testimony  from  a 
single  person  that  Jesus  was  seen  bj  him  on  earth 
after  his  alleged  resurrection. 

The  writers  of  the  Gospels  are  the  only  authorities 
for  the  occurrence.  If  they  give  an  inspired  revela- 
tion, it  should  be  consistent  and  intelligible,  but 
their  stories  do  not  agree.  Let  any  one  write  out 
their  testimony  in  parallel  columns  and  he  will  notice 
the  following  discrepancies :  Matthew  says  that  at 
the  death  of  Jesus  "  the  earth  did  quake ;  and  the 
rocks  were  rent ;  and  the  tombs  were  opened ;  and 
many  bodies  of  the  saints  that  were  fallen  asleep 
were  raised,  and  coming  forth  out  of  the  tombs  after 
his  resurrection  they  entered  into  the  holy  city  and 
appeared  unto  many."  No  other  writer  mentions 
those  astounding  events,  which,  had  they  occurred, 
would  certainly  have  become  known  to  the  whole 
world. 

As  to  the  time  of  the  visit  to  the  tomb,  Matthew 
says,  "  as  it  began  to  dawn  ;"  Mark  says,  "  when  the 
sun  was  risen ;"  Luke  says,  "  at  early  dawn ;"  John 
says,  "  while  it  was  yet  dark." 


50  THE   RESURRECTION   OF  JESUS. 

As  to  the  persons  who  came  to  the  tomb,  Matthew 
mentions  "  Mary  Magdalene  and  the  other  Mary ; " 
Mark  says,  "  Mary  Magdalene  and  Mary  the  mother 
of  James  and  Salome ;"  Luke  says,  "  Now  they  were 
Mary  Magdalene,  and  Joanna,  and  Mary  the  mother 
of  James,  and  the  other  women  with  them  told  these 
things  unto  the  apostles ;"  John  mentions  only  Mary 
Magdalene. 

As  to  the  opening  of  the  tomb,  Matthew  says, 
"  And  behold  there  was  a  great  earthquake  ;  for  an 
angel  of  the  Lord  descended  from  heaven,  and  came, 
and  rolled  away  the  stone  and  sat  upon  it."  No  one 
else  mentions  this  manner  of  opening.  Matthew  says 
one  angel  sat  upon  the  stone  outside  the  tomb ;  Mark 
says  one  sat  in  the  tomb  on  the  right  side ;  Luke 
says  two  stood  in  the  tom.b ;  John  makes  no  mention 
of  angels  at  this  time,  but  says  that  on  a  second  visit 
Mary  saw  two  angels  sitting  in  the  tomb.  Matthew, 
Luke,  and  John  say  the  women  told  the  disciples ; 
Mark  says,  "  they  said  nothing  to  any  one,  for  they 
were  afraid." 

As  to  the  number,  time,  and  place  of  the  appear- 
ances of  Jesus  they  all  differ.  The  first  appearance 
is  said  by  Matthew  to  have  been  to  "  Mary  Magda- 
lene and  the  other  Mary ;"  by  Mark,  "  to  Mary  Mag- 
dalene ;"  by  Luke,  "  to  two  of  them  going  that  very 
day  to  a  village  called  Emmaus;"  by  John,  "to  Mary 
at  the  tomb."  Matthew  mentions  only  one  other 
appearance,  in  Galilee  at  a  mountain  ;  Mark  mentions 
two,  one  of  them  near,  the  other  in  Jerusalem ;  Luke 
mentions  one  in  Jerusalem ;  John  mentions  three, 
two  in  Jerusalem  and  one  at  the  Sea  of  Tiberias. 
The  writer  of  the  Acts  says  he  appeared  unto  them 


THE   RESURRECTION  OF  JESUS.  61 

"by  the  space  of  forty  days."  Paul  speaks  of  six 
appearances— none  of  them  to  women — and  one  of 
these  was  his  own  vision  after  the  ascension. 

As  to  the  ascension,  only  one  of  the  four  evan- 
gelists, Luke,  mentions  it;  but  a  later  writer  has 
added  an  account  to  the  gospel  of  Mark,  to  supply 
so  glaring  a  deficiency ;  but  he  speaks  uf  it  as  though 
it  occurred  from  Jerusalem,  while  Luke  says,  "  over 
against  Bethany,"  and  the  writer  of  the  Acts  says  it 
took  place  "  from  the  mount  called  Olivet." 

This  is  the  evidence  on  which  belief  in  the  resur- 
rection rests.  It  is  so  contradictory  that  no  court  of 
justice  would  accept  it  even  if  given  by  professed 
eye-witnesses.  But  the  evidence  is  entirely  of  a 
hearsay  character  and  merely  amounts  to  this,  that 
theologians  say,  that  evangelists  say,  that  others 
say,  that  they  saw  Jesus  alive  after  he  was  buried. 
Only  one  witness  at  the  grave  says  "  he  is  arisen,"  and 
that  one  was  an  angel.  Thus  we  rest  our  belief  in 
the  resurrection  upon  the  fact  that  somebody  says, 
that  somebody  says,  that  somebody  said,  that  an 
angel  said  "he  is  arisen."  Angel  stories  are  not 
deemed  final  authority  in  this  age,  but  are  considered 
Bure  evidence  of  myths.  Is  it  possible  that  a  miracle 
upon  which  the  salvation  of  the  world  depends 
would  not  have  been  supported  by  clearer  evidence  ? 

But  the  fact  of  its  belief  is  by  some  considered 
evidence  of  its  truth.  Then  may  all  the  marvels  of 
Buddhism  and  Mohammedanism  be  true.  It  is  asked, 
how  could  such  a  story  arise  if  Jesus  never  arose 
from  the  dead?  Read  John  Fiske's  "Myths  and 
Mythmakers,"  and  S.  Baring-Gould's  "Legends  of 
Patriarchs  and  Prophets,"  and  "  Myths  of  the  Middle 


rh 


62  THE  RESURRECTION  OP  JESUS. 

Ages,"  and  it  will  be  seen  how  legends  and  folk-lore 
are  born  and  grow.  Read  Kersey  Graves's  "  Sixteen 
Crucified  Saviors,"  and  see  how  every  nation  has 
similar  legends,  and  how  Ohrishna,  Zoroaster,  iEs- 
culapius,  Adonis,  Bacchus,  and  Hercules  were  fore- 
runners of  Jesus.  The  Pagans  celebrated  the  resur- 
rection of  their  gods  at  Easter.  Christians  have 
merely  added  a  new  name  to  the  deity. 

Other  explanations  have  been  offered.  Possibly 
Jesus  did  not  die  by  the  crucifixion.  He  was  only 
from  four  to  six  hours  on  the  cross.  He  may  have 
revived,  appeared  to  a  few,  and  lived  and  died  in 
obscurity.  Possibly  imagination,  prompted  by  affec- 
tion, caused  his  friends  to  believe  they  saw  him. 
Walter  Scott  thus  saw  Lord  Byron.  Modern  Spiritu- 
alists claim  that  Jesus  was  a  medium,  and  was  "  ma- 
terialized "  after  his  death.  The  article  "  Gospels  " 
in  the  new  Encyclopedia  Britannica  gives  a  good 
account  of  the  probable  growth  of  the  gospel  tradi- 
tions, and  in  "  Supernatural  Religion "  and  Greg's 
"  Creed  of  Christendom  "  may  be  seen  a  good  exam- 
ination of  the  evidence  for  the  resurrection  of  Jesus. 

If  this  event  is  disproved,  the  whole  scheme  of 
Christian  theology  falls  to  the  ground,  and  we  are  rid 
of  the  belief  that  salvation  depends  upon  the  accept- 
ance of  the  story  of  Jesus.  But  there  still  remains 
the  foundation  truth  which  this  myth  symbolizes, 
that  good  ever  lives  and  eventually  triumphs  over 
evil;  that  truth,  though  for  a  time  vanquished  by 
error,  rises  again  with  power. 


CREEDS. 

Creeds  are  expressions  of  belief.  In  politics  they 
are  called  platforms.  In  love,  which  is  belief  in  one 
supreme  woman,  they  are  styled  declarations.  In 
society  they  are  known  as  fashions.  In  religion,  the 
standard  statements  of  the  various  sects  are  called 
creeds. 

These  concise  summaries  of  religious  belief  are 
very  useful  for  the  purpose  of  conveying  instruction 
as  to  the  avowed  tenets  of  an  organization,  and  they 
are  very  handy  for  reference  by  its  members  when 
they  have  occasion  to  know  what  they  believe.  By 
this  means  they  can  become  informed  of  what  are 
presumed  to  be  their  beliefs,  without  the  mortifica- 
tion of  applying  to  their  spiritual  advisers  to  give 
them  the  instruction.  Probably  a  very  small  pro- 
portion of  the  professors  of  religion  could  give  a  full 
account  of  the  tenets,  the  belief  of  which  is  theoret- 
ically so  important.  Though  creeds  have  a  use,  they 
are  in  many  respects  harmful,  for  they  cause  mental 
slavery  and  repress  free  thought.  Prof.  Francis  W. 
Newman  says :  "  Nowhere  from  any  body  of  priests, 
clergy,  or  ministers,  as  an  order,  is  religious  progress 
to  be  anticipated  until  intellectual  creeds  are  de- 
stroyed." Devotion  to  creeds  fosters  ignorance  by 
preventing  study  of  those  subjects  upon  which  final 
opinions  are  pronounced.     The  creeds  of  politics. 


54  CREEDS. 

science,  and  fashion  are  not  considered  unalterable, 
being  only  formulations  of  current  opinion,  knowl- 
edge, or  taste ;  but  religious  creeds  pretend  to  be 
statements  of  divinely  revealed  truths,  and  therefore 
of  final  authority. 

The  fatal  blow  to  the  claim  that  creeds  contain  the 
ultimate  truth,  is  the  fact  that  there  are  so  many  of 
them.  Truth  is  one,  and  a  divine  revelation  when  it 
comes  will  be  understood  harmoniously.  But  now 
we  find  a  great  number  of  religions  in  the  world,  and 
each  religion  divided  into  many  sects  ;  there  being 
one  hundred  and  forty-six  distinct  denominations  of 
Protestant  Christians  in  Great  Britain,  nearly  all  of 
which  have  definite  creeds,  each  sect  deeming  its  own 
to  be  infallibly  true,  and  all  the  rest  more  or  less 
erroneous.  A  creed  of  religion  cannot  therefore  be 
denied  by  a  professor  without  his  incurring  a  more 
serious  condemnation  from  his  associates  than  would 
be  applied  to  a  dissenter  from  established  opinions 
upon  secular  subjects.  Persons  may  refuse  to  be- 
lieve in  protection,  in  allopathy,  or  in  wearing  cor- 
sets, and  still  be  respected,  but  let  them  deny  the 
creed  and  they  are  the  victims  of  social  ostracism 
here  and  of  threatening  of  suffering  in  another  life. 
Creeds  of  fashion  have  made  women  squeeze  their 
feet  in  China  and  their  waists  in  America ;  and  creeds 
of  religion  have  compressed  their  minds.  But  we 
need  to  learn  that  the  creeds  of  religion,  like  the 
creeds  of  fashion,  are  only  of  human  authority  and 
may  be  freely  inquired  into  and  discarded  if  found 
to  be  neither  true  nor  useful. 

Kr'  ., ,.     ^e  of  the  origin  and  growth  of  religious 
ere  \h  p     vucipates  the  mind  from  any  consideration 


CREEDS.  55 

for  their  authority  beyond  the  force  of  merit.  The 
"Apostles'  Creed  "  was  composed  about  four  hundred 
years  after  the  time  of  the  apostles,  being  compiled 
from  similar  earlier  statements.  The  clauses,  "he 
descended  into  hell,"  and,  "  the  communion  of  saints," 
with  some  others,  are  later  insertions.  The  creed 
grew  up  with  the  religion  during  centuries.  The 
Nicene  Creed  was  composed  by  the  Council  of 
Nicsea,  325  A.D.,for  the  purpose  of  settling  the  vexed 
question  whether  Christ  was  of  the  "same  substance" 
as  the  Father,  or  of  "like  substance."  The  "  Atha- 
nasian  Creed  "  was  composed  in  the  fifth  century,  long 
after  the  death  of  Athanasius,  to  embody  his  doctrine 
of  the  trinity,  but  it  received  alteration  as  late  as  the 
ninth  century.  Constant  disputes  about  beliefs  con- 
tinued until  the  Council  of  Trent,  in  the  middle  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  made  more  elaborate  state- 
ments of  the  doctrines  which  now  govern  the  Romish 
church.  The  principal  of  the  multitude  of  Protestant 
creeds  are  the  Lutheran,  the  Calvinistic,  the  Thirty- 
nine  Articles  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  the 
Westminster  Confession.  The  latter  contains  thirty- 
three  chapters,  and  was  composed  by  a  body,  chiefly 
clergymen,  who  met  1,163  times  in  five-and-a-half 
years,  from  1643  to  1649  a.d. 

The  theory  of  evolution  and  the  establishment  of 
the  human  authorship  of  the  Bible  have  overthrown 
these  creeds,  and  to  preserve  the  organization  de- 
pending iipon  them  it  has  been  necessary  to  re- 
interpret, revise,  or  remodel  them.  What  is  known  in 
New  England  as  the  New  Congregational  Creed  is  an 
effort  to  so  change  the  expressions  of  the  creed  as  to 
allow  men  to  hold  rationalistic  opinions  under  its 


^Q  OREEBS. 

cover,  that  is,  to  say  one  thing  and  think  another. 
It  is  said  to  be  meant  to  find  new  expressions  for  the 
old  ideas,  and  to  put  now  ideas  into  old  expressions. 
The  statements  have  "  grown  into  new  meaning 
under  the  brighter  light  of  to-day."  It  uses  old 
terms,  "  but  shades  or  expands  its  definitions  so  as 
to  accord  with  the  thought  of  the  age." 

We  rejoice  at  the  liberal  tendency  shown  by  these 
changes,  though  we  may  not  commend  their  hypoc- 
risy. Dishonest  creeds  lead  to  dishonest  deeds; 
and  when  the  church  dissembles  its  belief  it  is  no 
wonder  that  so  many  of  its  members  confuse  their 
accounts,  and  the  definition  of  stealing  is  expanded 
into  borrowing. 

It  is  plain  then  that  creeds  are  only  men's  opinions 
and  may  be.  changed  as  ideas  grow.  But  we  need 
not  rail  at  them  any  more  than  at  old  coaches,  all 
good  in  their  day.  We  should  strive,  however,  to 
deliver  men  from  bondage  to  what  is  untrue,  un- 
seemly, or  unprofitable,  and  make  them  free  to  ex- 
amine all  opinions,  saying  to  them, 

"  And  you  may  foster  as  you  will 
Your  unbelief  in  all  the  creeds. 
So  that  you  keep  your  faith  still  strong 
In  the  great  gospel  of  good  deeds." 


RELIGION-IS  IT  PERMANENT? 

The  origin  of  the  word  "  religion  "  is  in  dispute, 
and  the  definitions  of  it  are  as  varied  as  its  forms. 
A  comprehensive  definition  of  it  is,  adoration  of 
supernatural  powers  with  expectation  of  benefit. 
Religion  in  this  sense  is  universal,  and  no  people 
have  yet  been  discovered  who  were  entirely  destitute 
of  it.  Universality  proves  that  it  is  congenial  to 
man's  nature,  but  does  not  insure  its  continuance. 
Smoking,  drinking,  and  war  are  universal,  but  total 
abstainers  and  peace  men  look  for  their  extinction. 
Religion  has  doubtless  been  in  a  measure  beneficial, 
but  in  the  light  of  present  knowledge  it  appears 
illogical,  unnecessary,  harmful,  and  doomed  to  ex- 
tinction. 

Religion  is  illogical.  It  is  based  on  second-hand 
revelation.  Samuel  should  worship  if  God  speaks  to 
him  and  demands  it,  but  Thomas  does  right  to  de- 
mand a  message  by  "  direct  wire  "  to  himself.  This 
acceptance  of  other  people'?:,  revelations  is  the  root 
of  all  religious  delusion.  Education  destroys  super- 
natural belief,  and  logic  demands  that  the  observ- 
ances that  arose  from  and  depend  upon  that  belief 
should  be  dropped.  Holyoake  remarks  that  speaking 
of  a  thing  lessens  the  performance ;  the  enthusiasm 
goes  off  in  words  instead  of  in  acts.  Merchants  and 
artists  might  as  well  meet  and  glorify  trade  and  art 


58  RELIGION — IS  IT  PERMANENT? 

abstractly,  singing  hymns  to  commerce  and  uttering 
aspirations  to  beauty ;  but  it  is  more  logical  to  put 
the  enthusiasm  into  the  work.  Knowledge  of  nature 
teaches  that  prayer  is  illogical;  for  the  course  of 
events  is  never  arbitrarily  interfered  with.  Eflfect  is 
always  preceded  by  natural  cause. 

Religion  is  unnecessary.  Men  find  they  can  do 
without  it.  Its  consolations  are  not  effective,  nor 
are  its  restraints  heeded  by  educated  people.  A  sea 
captain  in  a  storm  said :  "  There  is  now  no  hope  but 
to  put  our  trust  in  God."  An  old  lady  exclaimed  : 
"OLord!  has  it  come  to  that?"  People  now  trust 
in  human  skill  and  knowledge.  God  has  never  asked 
for  sidoration,  and  cannot  need  it,  and  the  emotion  is 
more  effective  for  man's  benefit,  if  practically  applied. 

Religion  is  harmful.  It  gives  supernatural  ex- 
planations, and  keeps  people  from  looking  into 
things.  It  has  opposed  all  progress  of  science  that 
conflicted  with  its  "revelations."  Claiming  divine 
authority,  it  is  necessarily  intolerant ;  and,  logically, 
can  kill,  persecute,  or  malign  those  who  ignore  its 
claims.  It  prevents  interest  in  this  world  by  teach- 
ing that  "religion  is  the  chief  concern  of  mortals 
here  below."  It  considers  the  building  of  churches 
more  important  than  the  construction  of  drains  ;  the 
maintenance  of  priests  of  more  consequence  than  the 
provision  of  schoolmasters  and  health-officers ;  the 
future  welfare  of  the  soul  of  more  moment  than  the 
piresent  advantage  of  the  body.  It  inculcates  the 
study  of  the  Hebrew  scriptures  and  the  Christian 
gospels  and  epistles  as  divine  oracles;  thus  laying 
the  foundation  of  sectarianism,  and  wasting  intellect 
upon  the  rhapsodies  and  vagaries  oj  the  ancient  ori- 


RELIOION— IS  IT  PERMANENT?  69 

ental  mind,  instead  of  applying  it  to  the  opening  of 
nature's  secrets  for  the  advantage  of  man. 

Religion  is  doomed  to  extinction.  It  began  in 
ignorance  and  fear,  and  declines  coincidently  with 
advance  in  knowledge  of  nature.  The  most  ignorant 
and  immoral  peoples  are  the  most  religious.  The 
degree  of  intelligence  is  shown  by  the  distance  at 
which  God  is  placed.  The  supposed  nearness  of 
cause  and  effect  corresponds  to  the  education.  The 
savage  believes  in  immediate  divine  agency,  but 
knowledge  ever  discovers  new  links  in  the  chain  of 
causation.  The  evolution  of  religion  is  shown  by 
Max  Miiller  and  other  writers  to  progress  through 
henotheism,  polytheism,  and  monotheism  to  atheism. 
Advance  in  science  is  coincident  with  the  demand 
for  a  natural  explanation  of  the  universe.  Progress, 
therefore,  demands  the  abolition  of  religion,  and  the 
analogy  of  its  past  course  of  development  points  to 
its  extinction. 

Religion  may  continue  in  name,  and  we  see  a  great 
effort  now  made  to  interpret  it  as  "morality,"  "as- 
piration to  the  best,"  "the  consideration  of  man's 
relation  to  the  universe,"  thus  preserving  its  existence 
and  vested  interests  while  abandoning  its  doctrines. 
But  this  is  not  historic  religion,  nor  is  it  an  honest 
use  "of  the  word.  As  belief  in  religious  doctrines  de- 
clines, there  is  evidence  of  a  union  of  all  Christian 
denominations  to  combat  Rationalism.  They  no 
longer  can  afford  to  quarrel  among  themselves,  and 
too  many  know  their  minor  distinctions  to  be  false  5 
but  a  struggle  for  existence  is  impending.  It  there- 
fore behooves  Rationalists  to  assume  open  and  un- 
compromising hostility  to  religion  and  its  forms. 


60  RELIGION — IS  IT  PERMANENT? 

There  wil)  be  enough  half-way  Liberals  to  remain  in 
the  church  and  reform  it  from  within.  But  opposi- 
tion from  without  is  essential  to  this  reform,  and  all 
who  see  the  falsity  of  supernatural  religion  should 
act  up  to  their  light.  The  worship  of  God  absorbs 
a  vast  amount  of  thought,  emotion,  and  money  that 
might  be  directed  more  profitably  to  the  considera- 
tion of  the  welfare  of  man.  Every  lover  of  humanity 
should  insist  that  the  welfare  of  man  here  and  now 
should  henceforth  be  **  the  chief  concern  of  mortals 
here  below," 


THEISM  AND  ATHEISM. 

The  Hebrews  considered  the  name  of  God  too 
jsacred  to  be  spoken ;  and  even  now  a  mysterious 
fear  of  inquiry  into  the  being  of  God  largely  per- 
vades the  Christian  world.  But  the  first  cause  is  as 
legitimate  an  object  of  inquiry  as  electricity;  and 
modern  science  is  searching  the  universe  for  God. 

The  Psalmist  remarkfi :  "  The  fool  hath  said  in 
his  heart,  There  is  no  God."  One  often  meets  that 
kind  of  an  atheist  now ;  a  man  who,  owing  to  a 
Christian  education,  ignorantly  thinks  that  morality 
depends  upon  the  commands  of  God,  and,  in  order 
that  he  may  enjoy  congenial  immoralities,  says  in 
his  heart,  "There  is  no  God."  But,  with  reference 
to  the  existence  of  a  personal  supreme  being,  such  as 
the  Bible  describes,  wise  men  are  now  saying  in  their 
heads,  "  There  is  no  God."  They  find  no  trace  of  a 
personal  existence  superior  to  the  universe,  and 
though  their  hearts  are  in  harmony  with  good,  their 
heads  are  opposed  to  God.  Their  hearts  also  are 
opposed  to  the  conceptions  of  God  which  seem  to 
violate  natural  morality ;  and  if  any  idea  of  God  is 
to  be  tolerated,  they  insist  that  it  shall  not  be  in- 
ferior to  the  current  conceptions  of  good. 

Men  in  all  ages  have  personified  their  highest 
conceptions  of  goodness  in  a  supreme  being,  making 
a  god  to  stand  for  their  notions  of  good.      The 


02  THEISM  AND  ATHEISM. 

Hebrews  thus  made  Taliweh  the  representative  of 
the  best  traits  they  knew,  and  as  they  gained  knowl- 
edge from  Greece,  Persia,  India,  and  Egypt,  they 
improved  his  attributes.  Christians  have  made  the 
mistake  of  continuing  this  God  in  the  condition  in 
which  the  Bible  writers  left  him ;  and  as  goodness 
grows  with  knowledge,  and  the  God  of  the  Bible 
does  not  change,  we  find  that  their  God  is  inferior  to 
current  morality  and  no  longer  represents  good.  It 
therefore  becomes  imperative  that  friends  of  good 
should  be  foes  of  God.  Taking  warning  from  the 
past,  and  recognizing  that  goodness  constantly  ad- 
vances, they  will  no  longer  personify  good  in  a  form 
that  in  a  short  time  may  be  obsolete  and  a  hindrance 
to  progress.  It  is  doubtless  a  help  to  many  to  per- 
sonify their  highest  conceptions  in  •  a  god,  just  as 
children  personify  heroism  in  Jack  the  Giant-killer, 
and  virtue  and  grace  in  Cinderella;  but  it  marks 
mental  advancement  to  be  able  to  contemplate  good- 
ness abstractly.  If  men  personified  present  ideas 
of  good  as  god,  it  would  not  be  so  objectionable ; 
but  when  they  make  the  goodness  of  two  thousand 
or  three  thousand  years  ago  their  god,  as  all  do  who 
worship  the  God  of  the  Bible,  then  their  god  is  an 
injury  to  man. 

The  chief  arguments  in  support  of  Theism  are 
universality  of  belief  in  God  and  evidence  of  design 
in  nature.  To  the  first  we  reply  :  Ignorance  is  also 
universal,  and  the  effect  of  knowledge  is  always  to 
remove  God  farther  away.  Where  knowledge  ends, 
God  begins ;  and  the  more  ignorant  a  man  is  the 
nearer  he  brings  God  to  a  connection  with  present 
events.     The  explanation  of  phenomena  by  the  uu- 


THEISM  AND   ATHEISM.  63 

taught  is,  "  God  did  it ;"  but  science  finds  immediate 
natural  causes,  and  now  has  put  God  away  back  of 
the  conception  of  the  plan  of  evolution.  The  infer- 
ence is  that  as  God  continually  recedes  before  the 
advance  of  knowledge,  he  will  reach  a  vanishing- 
point.  Napoleon  was  shocked  that  Laplace  had 
made  no  mention  of  God  in  the  "Mecanique  Celeste," 
but  the  great  mathematician  replied,  "  Sire,  I  have 
no  need  of  that  hypothesis." 

The  Resign  argument  claims  that  things  showing 
adaptation  must  have  had  a  maker,  therefore  the 
universe  has  a  maker — God.  Which  we  answer  by 
asking.  Who  made  God?  It  is  just  as  easy  to  con-' 
ceive  of  a  self-existent  universe  as  of  an  eternal  God, 
and  the  former  idea  deals  with  one  perplexity  less. 
A  boy  asked,  "  Father,  how  could  God  make  himself 
when  he  wasn't  made  himself  yet  ?"  Holyoake  speaks 
of  God  as  "  a  being  who  began  to  be  before  there  was 
time  for  anything  to  be,  who  was  everywhere  before 
there  was  anywhere  to  occupy."  We  further  deny 
that  the  universe  shows  design.  Darwin  says :  "  The 
old  argument  from  design  in  nature,  as  given  by 
Paley,  which  formerly  seemed  to  me  so  conclusive, 
fails,  now  that  the  law  of  natural  selection  has  been 
discovered.  We  can  no  longer  argue  that,  for  in- 
stance, the  beautiful  hinge  of  a  bivalve  shell  must 
have  been  made  by  an  intelligent  being,  like  the 
hinge  of  a  door  by  man.  There  seems  to  be  no  more 
design  in  the  variability  of  organic  beings  and  in  the 
action  of  natural  selection,  than  in  the  course  which 
the  wind  blows."  Darwin  wrote  to  Dr.  Gray :  "An 
innocent  and  good  man  stands  under  a  tree  and  is 
killed  by  a  flash  of  lightning.     Do  you  believe  that 


64  THEISM  AND  ATHEISM. 

God  designedly  killed  this  man  ?  If  you  believe  so, 
do  you  believe  that  when  a  swallow  snaps  up  a  gnat 
God  designs  that  that  particular  swallow  should 
snap  up  that  particular  gnat  at  that  particular  in- 
stant ?  I  believe  that  the  man  and  the  gnat  are  in 
the  same  predicament.  If  the  death  of  neither  man 
nor  gnat  are  designed,  I  see  no  good  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  their  first  birth  or  production  should  be 
necessarily  designed." 

Evolution  accounts  satisfactorily  for  progress.  All 
atoms  are  endowed  with  consciousness,  so  far  at 
least  as  to  desire  to  avail  themselves  of  the  most 
agreeable  sensations,  i.  e.,  to  do  the  best  for  them- 
selves. This  necessarily  tends  toward  improvement; 
so  that  progress  is  "of  the  nature  of  things."  Given 
the  existence  of  matter  with  the  faculty  of  choice,  no 
interposition  of  divine  guidance  is  needed  to  direct 
the  development  of  the  universe.  Having  now  rea- 
sonable explanations  of  things  back  to  the  first  exist- 
ence of  forceful  matter,  it  seems  logical  to  expect 
that  any  preceding  operations  would  be  in  harmony 
with  all  the  later  methods.  We  need  not,  therefore, 
bring  in  the  hypothesis  of  a  god  at  this  point,  but 
wait  in  confidence  that  the  growing  faculties  of  man 
will  in  time  discern  the  natural  causes  which  have 
promoted  what  we  now  call  the  beginning  of  things. 
Now  beginnings  will  then  appear  for  the  solution  of 
their  origin ;  and  analogy  insures  the  continuance 
of  natural  explanations. 

Among  the  evils  of  Theism  may  be  mentioned  the 
following :  As  man  makes  God  in  his  own  image,  a 
low  conception  of  the  universe  is  the  result.  The 
Hebrew  ideas  of  morality  were  inferior  to  those  of 


THEISM  AND  ATHEISM.  65 

the  present  age,  and  any  god  they  were  capable  of 
creating  could  not  be  worthy  of  entire  respect  now. 
Like  master,  like  man ;  and  the  worship  of  an  un- 
worthy object  degrades  the  worshiper.  Diderot  said, 
"  The  God  of  the  Bible  is  a  father  who  cares  a  good 
deal  for  his  apples  and  little  for  his  children."  Hol- 
yoake  styles  him  "  an  unsleeping  policeman."  The 
idea  of  God  as  the  author  of  all  events  checks  inquiry 
and  restricts  the  growth  of  knowledge.  "  God  did 
it "  is  the  answer  of  ignorance,  another  way  of  say- 
ing, "Don't  know."  A  little  girl,  when  asked  who 
made  her,  said,  "  God  made  me  that  long,  and  I 
growed  the  rest  myself."  War  and  intolerance  are 
caused  by  the  belief  that  one's  conception  of  God  is 
the  only  true  one.  More  cruelty  and  murder  has  re- 
sulted from  this  cause  than  from  any  other,  unless  it 
be  covetousness.  The  worship  of  God  is  a  waste  of 
emotion  that  might  be  directed  to  stimulate  practical 
effort  for  man.  It  leads  to  great  waste  of  effort  in 
working  for  imaginary  effects,  such  as  salvation,  and 
substitutes  feeling  in  place  of  reason,  teaching, 
"  Trust  in  the  Lord  and  lean  not  upon  thine  own  un- 
derstanding." It  causes  a  great  waste  of  money. 
The  temple  of  God  and  the  house  of  the  priest  rear 
their  gorgeous  structures  amid  the  hovels  of  the 
worshipers  in  the  ill-paved,  undrained  streets.  At- 
tention to  God  means  neglect  of  man.  Where  God 
is  elevated  man  is  depressed.  The  conscience  is 
satisfied  by  the  worship  of  God;  and  immorality 
thrives  best  where  the  people  are  the  most  formally 
religious.  The  God  idea  is  the  foundation  of  tyranny 
and  slavery.  The  heavenly  ruler  must  have  his 
vicegerents  on  earth.    King,  priest,  and  master  op- 


GQ  THEISM  AND  ATHEISM. 

press  humanity  by  virtue  of  "  God*8  word,"  which 
enjoins  obedience  to  the  powers  that  be.  Man  will 
not  be  free  until  he  escapes  from  the  conception  of 
a  being  superior  to  himself.  By  this  imagined 
authority  the  king  says,  Obey  or  be  killed ;  the  priest 
says,  Believe  or  be  damned ;  the  master  says,  Sub- 
mit or  starve.  God,  king,  priest,  and  master  must 
give  place  to  the  equal  brotherhood  of  man. 

Among  the  benefits  of  atheism  are  these :  Self- 
reliance  and  fortitude  in  the  place  of  dependence  and 
weakness ;  work  instead  of  worship ;  knowledge  in 
the  room  of  faith ;  investigation  and  improvement 
instead  of  prayer;  the  elevation  of  man  in  conse- 
quence of  the  belief  that  he  is  the  highest  manifesta- 
tion of  natural  forces,  and  that  his  welfare  is  the 
chief  concern ;  the  growth  of  morality  by  regarding 
it  as  what  is  useful  rather  than  as  what  is  com- 
manded ;  the  strengthening  of  reason  by  its  exercise 
as  the  only  guide ;  the  growth  of  reverence  by  the 
substitution  of  the  idea  of  the  evolution  of  the  uni- 
verse, in  place  of  its  ordering  by  a  divine  magician. 
Lord  Bacon  said  :  "  Atheism  leaves  a  man  to  sense, 
to  philosophy,  to  natural  piety,  to  laws,  to  reputa- 
tion, all  of  which  may  be  guides  to  an  outward  moral 
virtue  though  religion  were  not ;  but  superstition  dis- 
mounts all  these." 

It  is  the  fashion  now  for  men  of  rationalistic  mind 
to  call  themselves  agnostics  and  not  atheists ;  for 
while  all  equally  deny  the  existence  of  a  personal 
God,  such  as  is  conceived  by  Hebrews  and  Christians, 
it  is  felt  that  the  existence  of  an  infinite  conscious 
Power  is  a  matter  that  admits  neither  of  proof  nor 
disproof,  and  therefore  it  is  wise  neither  to  affirm 


TflEISM  AND  ATHEISM.  67 

hor  deny  the  possibility  of  what  lies  beyond  the 
range  of  man's  present  mental  capacity.  In  this 
sense,  among  educated  rationalists,  there  are  no 
atheists,  but  all  are  agnostics ;  while  as  regards  be- 
lief in  Jehovah  and  the  Christian  God  all  are  atheists. 

In  a  temple  at  Fuh  Chau,  where  multitudes  worship 
before  an  idol  of  the  latest  and  most  approved  form, 
there  is  an  anteroom  where  a  thousand  images  are 
laid  upon  thQ  shelf — old  forms  of  gods  that  have  had 
their  day  and  ceased  to  be.  In  another  wing  of  the 
temple,  some  years  ago,  lived  an  English  missionary, 
who  was  laboring  to  supplant  the  idol  by  the  Chris- 
tian God.  So  in  the  temple  of  humanity,  the  gods 
have  been  erected,  and  in  turn  removed.  The  Chris- 
tian God  is  pushing  into  the  place  of  Buddha,  but  in 
turn  is  being  superseded  by  the  God  of  Evolution, 
who  must  give  place  in  time  to  still  higher  concep- 
tions of  the  mystery  of  the  universe,  which,  though 
now  unknown,  may  not  be  forever  unknowable  ;  and 
in  the  distant  future  we  see  the  form  of  one  like  the 
Son  of  Man,  who  shall  gain  dominion  over  the  earth, 
but  it  is  the  form  of  Enlightened  Humanity,  whose 
right  it  is  to  reign,  and  who  will  put  under  its  feet 
all  gods  and  every  influence  that  opposes  the  progress 
of  Naturalism. 

To  support  this  progress  is  to  be  "an  enemy  of 
God."  This  now  opprobrious  epithet  will  become  an 
honorable  distinction  when  men  understand  that  the 
friends  of  good  must  be  foes  of  God. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  GROWTH  OF 

MORALITY. 

Morality  may  be  defined  as  the  art  of  right  living ; 
the  practice  of  what  ought  to  be.  Its  rules  and  obli- 
gations are  popularly  supposed  to  be  derived  from 
and  to  rest  on  the  Christian  religion.  An  eminent 
preacher  lately  voiced  ti  ^  opinion  when  he  said : 
"  There  is  no  moral  foundation  in  the  agnostic  creed 
on  which  a  noble  life  reposes.  Atheists  entirely 
break  down  when  desired  to  give  a  basis  for  moral- 
ity." If  this  is  true,  every  Freethinker  will  say,  Let 
Free  thought  perish ! 

What  claim  has  Christianity  to  be  considered  the 
source  of  moral  ideas  ?  Its  central  dogmas  are,  that 
man  is  a  depraved  being,  condemned  by  his  maker  to 
punishment,  which  may  be  escaped  by  believing  that 
God  himself  was  born  of  a  virgin,  suffered,  was  cruci- 
fied, and  ascended  from  his  grave  into  heaven.  So 
far  from  promoting  morality,  these  ideas  are  all 
immoral  in  their  tendency.  To  assure  men  that  they 
are  depraved  is  to  induce  them  to  act  accordingly ; 
and  to  teach  them  that  a  life  of  crime  may  be  atoned 
for  by  a  death-bed  emotion  of  trust  in  Jesus,  is  to 
remove  the  strongest  safeguard  of  morality,  the  as- 
surance of  the  natural  retribution  of  ill-doing. 

But  some  claim  that  the  precepts  of  Jesus  are  the  \ 
source  of  our  morality.    He  certainly  was  largely 


THE   OUIGIN   AND  GROWTH   OP  MORALITY.  69 

imbued  with  the  spirit  of  morality,  but  Seneca  and 
Epictetus  gave  procepts  equally  elevated.  Renan 
savs  :  "Jesus  Christ  neither  overturned  nor  dis- 
covered  anything."  Some  of  his  teachings  are  im- 
practicable, and  some  of  his  acts  are  open  to  criti- 
cism. Indiscriminate  alms-giving,  voluntary  poverty, 
the  cursing  of  the  fig-tree,  the  whipping  of  the  money- 
changers, the  destruction  of  two  thousand  swine,  are 
not  in  accord  with  present  ideas  of  morality.  The 
New  Testament  gives  low  views  of  marriage,  represses 
woman,  upholds  tyranny  by  preaching  submission 
to  "  the  powers  that  be,"  gives  but  slight  intimation 
of  kindness  to  animals,  and  attempts  to  show  that 
when  God  seemed  to  care  for  oxen  it  was  really  min- 
isters of  the  gospel  who  were  the  objects  of  his  con- 
cern. Infanticide,  suicide,  and  slavery  received  no 
condemnation,  and  worldly  learning  and  physical 
culture  were  despised. 

The  Hebrew  scriptures  are  equally  defective  as  a 
moral  standard.  Some  of  the  commandments  are 
inferior  to  those  given  by  Buddha,  which  included 
injunctions  against  strong  liquors,  anger,  malice,  idle 
and  vain  talk,  and  the  best  of  them  were  known  to 
the  world  long  before  Jehovah  gave  them  to  Moses. 
A  newspaper  that  copies  from  earlier  issues  is  de- 
spised. A  hint  about  ether,  steam,  or  electricity, 
would  have  been  a  more  convincing  proof  of  revela- 
tion than  the  repetition  of  ideas  known  to  China, 
India,  or  Persia,  long  before.  Many  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament rules  are  sentimental  or  inappropriate.  It  is 
not  now  considered  immoral  to  wear  mixed  garments, 
and  if  Moses  had  ever  eaten  a  Cincinnati  ham  he 
would  never  have  heard  Jehovah's  edict  against  pork. 


to  THE  ORIGIN  AND  GROWTH  OF  MORALITY. 

-  Religion  is  not  the  author  of  morality,  for  among 
civilized  countries  the  most  religious  are  the  most 
immoral.  Spain,  Italy,  and  Ireland  are  the  most 
devout,  the  most  ignorant,  and  the  most  criminal 
among  modern  nations,  and  suggest  that  ignorance 
is  the  mother  both  of  devotion  and  of  crime. 

It  is  reason,  not  revelation,  that  has  taught  moral- 
ity. Locke,  in  his  "Essay  on  the  Human  Under- 
standing," gives  unanswerable  reasons  to  prove  that 
experience  is  the  true  source  of  morals.  Bentham 
shows  thiit  utility  is  the  true  test  of  right,  "  the 
greatest  good  of  the  greatest  number,"  and  Spencer 
maintains  that  what  are  called  innate  ideas,  con- 
science, and  "  the  voice  of  God  in  the  soul,"  are  in- 
herited ideas  secured  by  the  experience  of  ancestors. 
Fourier  says  pain  is  the  sign  of  error,  pleasure  the 
sign  of  truth.     These  are  sufficient  instructors. 

That  reason  and  not  revelation  is  the  source  of 
morality,  is  proved  by  the  constant  change  of  moral 
rules.  Clothing,  marriage,  slavery,  food,  are  regulated 
by  progressive  laws  of  society,  and  what  is  moral  in 
one  age  becomes  immoral  in  the  next,  and  vice  versa. 
Men  through  reason  may  bridge  rivers,  tunnel  -  .ount- 
ains,  span  continents  with  railways,  and  girdle  the 
world  with  telegraphs,  but  Christians  declare  that 
men  could  not  learn  of  themselves  that  it  is  wrong  to 
kill,  steal,  and  bear  false  witness.  Moses  must  get 
a  stone  from  heaven  with  these  rules  graven  on  it, 
and  morality  would  die  if  his  priestly  successors 
could  not  support  its  claims  with  miracle  stories. 
John  Stuart  Mill  says  :  "  It  can  do  truth  no  service 
to  blink  the  fact  known  to  all  who  have  the  most 
ordinary  acquaintance  with  literary  history,  that  a 


tflfi  OltlOil^  AND  QROWTrt  OP  MORALlTT?.  71 

large  portion  of  the  noblest  and  most  valuable  moral 
teaching  has  been  the  work,  not  only  of  men  who  did 
not  know,  but  of  men  who  knew  and  rejected  the 
Christian  faith." 

The  theory  of  the  rational  origin  and  growth  of 
morality  rests  upon  a  scientific  basis.  Modern  re- 
search has  proved  that  the  embryo  of  man  passes 
through  successive  forms  common  to  the  animals 
below  him,  and  the  only  consistent  interpretation  of 
this  fact  is  that  in  the  development  of  the  individual 
we  have  the  history  of  the  growth  of  his  race.  An- 
alogy wouM  suggest  that  the  mental  development  of 
each  individual  shows  the  manner  in  which  society 
has  grown.  We  find  that  the  child  has  no  moral 
rules,  but  is  governed  by  fear  ;  the  youth  is  controlled 
by  authority;  the  adult  is  influenced  by  reason. 
Corresponding  to  this  we  find  that  the  religion  of 
savages  rests  upon  fear,  that  of  the  masses  of  civil- 
ized nations  upon  the  authority  of  church,  priests, 
and  sacred  books,  while  the  more  highly  educated 
are  swayed  wholly  by  reason.  Rationalism  is,  there- 
fore, proved  to  be  the  highest  order  and  latest  de- 
velopment of  mental  evolution.  These  three  stages 
in  the  growth  of  morality  may  be  illustrated  by  the 
conduct  of  persons  in  a  park,  where  is  placed  the 
warning,  "  Keep  off  the  grass."  One  says.  If  I  go  on 
the  grass  I  shall  be  arrested  and  fined.  He  is  re- 
strained by  fear.  Another  says,  The  law  should  be 
respected  by  all  good  citizens.  He  is  ruled  by 
authority.  A  third  person  says,  If  I  walk  on  the 
grass  I  shall  injure  the  appearance  of  the  park.  He 
is  influenced  by  reason.  A  fourth,  and  still  higher, 
stage  will  be  reached   when   long  continuance  in 


72  THE  ORIGIN  AND  GROWTH  OP  MORALITSr. 

rational  well-doing  becomes  a  habit,  and  men  do 
right  as  a  matter  of  course.  Punishment  and  the 
law  are  useful  means  of  restraint  for  those  who  are 
in  low  stages  of  moral  development,  but  they  are 
useless  for  the  more  advanced.  Some  are  restrained 
from  ill-doing  by  fear  of  hell  and  God ;  still  more  by 
fear  of  the  policeman ;  others,  without  thought,  follow 
the  orders  of  church  and  state,  while  the  most  en- 
lightened believe,  with  Kant,  that  duty  ought  to  be 
done  for  duty's  sake.  These  last  certainly  are  not 
the  people  that  Christian  ministers  should  hold  up 
to  scorn.  It  ill  becomes  those  who  are  under  the 
restraint  of  the  lower  motives  to  rail  at  those  who 
have  the  loftier  considerations. 

Morality  may,  therefore,  be  considered  to  be  the 
current  opinion  of  society  as  to  what  course  of  con- 
duct is  most  conducive  to  the  general  welfare.  It  has 
its  origin,  not  in  revelation,  but  in  human  experi- 
ence. Gods  may  be  dethroned  and  religion  become 
extinct,  and  still  men  will  do  what  is  right,  simply 
because  what  is  right  is  best.  And  the  sooner  men 
rise  above  the  need  of  the  restraints  of  fear  and  law, 
and  are  influenced  by  reason,  having  for  its  supreme 
motive  love  to  man,  the  sooner  will  come — not  the 
"  kingdom  of  heaven  " — but  a  righteous  earth,  with- 
out a  ruler  and  without  a  God. 


THE    PROMOTION    OF  MORAL- 
ITY. 

Two  things  are  essential  to  the  welfare  of  man, 
knowledge  and  goodness.  If  men  were  learned  but 
not  good,  knowledge  would  only  be  the  means  for 
greater  oppression  of  their  fellows  ;  and  if  they  were 
good  but  not  learned,  they  would  remain  the  victims 
of  natural  ills  that  knowledge  might  enable  them  to 
overcome.  Nature's  method  of  advancement  seems 
to  be  to  let  knowledge  coincide  with  goodness.  Im- 
provements in  practical  science  appear  concurrently 
with  development  in  morals.  Explosives,  steam, 
and  electricity,  if  known  in  barbarous  ages,  would 
have  been  used  with  disastrous  results.  Dynamite 
outrages  show  the  danger  from  physical  knowledge 
in  immoral  hands.  Advance  in  goodness  or  the  pro- 
motion of  morality  should  receive  equal  attention 
with  the  cultivation  of  learning. 

The  first  requisite  for  man's  moral  improvement  is 
the  one  generally  last  thought  of — prosperity.  Means 
of  existence  must  be  supplied  before  preaching  and 
tracts  can  be  e£fective.  We  should  therefore  try  to 
solve  the  problems  of  capital  and  labor,  co-operation, 
land  reform,  and  the  distribution  of  wealth,  so  that 
one  man  may  not  possess  a  hundred  million  dollars 
while  a  hundred  million  people  are  distressed  to 
secure  daily  bread.    Comfort  must  precede  educa- 


74  'i'ME  PROMOTION  OF  MOllAlItY. 

tion;  and  leisure  is  necessary  for  both  moral  and 
mental  development. 

A  second  aid  to  moral  in  provement  is  the  sure 
detection  of  crime.  Science  ib  continual]"  promoting 
this.  The  press,  railroad,  telegraph,  and  photograph 
assist  the  search  for  the  criminal,  and  so  perfect  is 
this  system  in  the  United  States  that  the  only  refuge 
from  a  present  hell  is  Canada ;  and  this  gate  it  is 
hoped  will  soon  be  closed.  New  inventions,  such  as 
the  microphone,  which  makes  audible  secret  whis- 
pers, may  assist  in  the  discovery  of  Crime ;  and  if 
there  is  truth  in  the  claims  made  for  mind-reading, 
its  development  will  tend  to  make  discovery  so  cer- 
tain that  wrong-doing  will  cease,  simply  because  it 
can  no  longer  attain  its  desired  ends.  Men  are  im- 
moral, not  because  they  prefer  evil  to  good  in  itself, 
but  because  evil  acts  promise  to  secure  them  the 
greatest  present  enjoyment  and  benefit.  When  se- 
cresy  and  concealment  are  no  longer  possible,  and 
public  opinion  discountenances  ill-doing,  men  wil) 
find  more  advantage  in  beiiig  good. 

A  third  means  of  promoting  morality  is  ethicri 
culture.  Let  pure  modern  morals  be  taught  in 
the  schools  in  place  of  Biblical  instruction.  Teach 
children  that  morality  is  wholly  independent  of 
theology,  and  its  claims  are  enforced,  not  by  Sinai, 
but  by  usefulness.  The  Christian  declares  that 
morality  is  the  result  of  a  special  and  exceptional 
divine  revelation  through  teachers.  Bibles,  or  con- 
sciences, whereas  the  rationalist  claims  that  morality 
is  revealed  in  the  same  manner  as  geology,  architec- 
ture, ship-building,  and  every  other  branch  of  knowl- 
edge, namely,  by  the  toilsome  experience  of  man. 


THE  PROMOTION   OP  MORALITY.  75 

One  revelation  pervades  all  nature,  and  there  are 
no  exceptions  to  the  manner  of  its  promulgation. 
Knowledge  is  revealed  to  man  when  his  earnest  re- 
search and  labored  experience  have  found  it  out.  In 
this  way  he  has  discovered  what  is  moral,  or,  in  an- 
other word,  best,  and  people  need  to  be  taught  these 
results  and  learn  the  reasons  upon  which  right-doing 
rests.  When  duty  appears  to  them  not  as  a  com- 
mand from  the  skies,  but  as  the  course  of  conduct 
most  conducive  t;o  the  welfare  of  themselves  and 
others,  its  claims  will  not  need  pressing. 

Finally,  it  must  be  shown  that  morality  pays. 
Men  are  eager  enough  for  gain.  They  will  stand  day 
and  night  before  the  broker's  office  to  secure  shares 
in  a  new  enterprise.  But  while  morality  is  deemed  the 
demand  of  an  unseen  God,  as  the  price  of  a  far  away 
and  intangible  blessedness  av'^  involving  present  sac- 
rifice and  suffering,  it  will  not  iiave  a  popular  following. 
Is  morality  now  essential  to  worldly  success  ?  Are  our 
capitalists,  our  thriving  merchants  and  manufacturers, 
our  prominent  statesmen,  the  men  most  noted  for 
goodness,  and  has  morality  been  the  pathway  to  suc- 
cess? No;  the  whole  system  of  society  opposes 
moral  progress.  It  is  based  on  making  profit  out  of 
the  labors  of  others  without  rendering  a  full  return. 
Each  man  strives  to  get  more  than  he  gives,  and  thus 
store  up  a  surplus  either  for  extra  indulgence  and  dis- 
play, or  for  the  glory  of  possession.  Of  what  use  is  it 
to  preach  good-will  to  others  when  a  man's  only  chance 
of  a  good  livelihood  is  to  overreach  others  in  trade  ? 
When  badness  ceases  to  pay,  men  will  be  good.  The 
friends  of  morality  must  turn  their  attention  chiefly 
to  such  practical  changes  in  society  as  will  make 


76  THE  PROMOTION  OF  MORALITY, 

goodness  profitable.  A  merchant  said :  "  I  have 
made  a  good  record  so  far,  but  one  never  knows 
what  he  may  have  to  do  for  his  wife  and  children." 
Competition  aided  by  fraud  was  everywhere  pressing 
against  him,  and  a  declining  business  made  him  face 
the  possibility  of  being  obliged  to  adopt  the  prac- 
tices that  gave  other  men  their  gain.  Remove  this 
pressure  by  a  change  that  shall  make  a  man's  pros- 
perity depend  upon  his  usefulness  and  good-will  to( 
others,  instead  of  as  now  upon  his  powers  to  outwit, 
supplant,  deceive,  and  trample  down  his  fellow  im 
the  struggle  for  existence,  and  we  shall  then  see  thei 
spread  of  morality  without  ministers  and  the  reign 
of  goodness  without  God.  When  men  combine  toi 
work  together  for  mutual  benefit,  the  moral  senti- 
ments, being  found  to  be  the  most  useful,  will  becomei 
the  prevailing  habit 


SABBATH  OBSERVANCE. 

The  observance  of  a  periodical  day  of  rest  is 
almost  universal,  and  its  origin  is  obscured  beyond 
the  dawn*  of  history.  Akkadian  inscriptions  show 
that  it  was  known  before  the  time  of  Abraham,  and 
is  not  of  Hebrew  origin.  Josephus  and  other  Jewish 
writers  admit  that  the  week  was  common  to  all  ori- 
ental nations.  Every  day  in  the  week  has  been  ob- 
served as  a  rest  or  sacred  day ;  Sunday  by  Christians, 
Monday  by  Greeks,  Tuesday  by  Persians,  Wednesday 
by  Assyrians,  Thursday  by  Egyptians,  Friday  by 
Turks,  and  Saturday  by  Jews.  So  universal  a  custom 
indicates  a  human  need,  and  the  beneficial  effect  of  a 
rest  day  was  never  more  fully  acknowledged  than  in 
the  busy  whirl  of  the  ending  nineteenth  century. 

But  differences  of  opinion  exist  as  to  the  proper 
way  of  observing  the  rest  day ;  and  an  attempt  is 
now  being  made  to  revive  and  fasten  more  firmly 
upon  Sunday  some  of  the  observances  of  the  Jewish 
Sabbath,  on  the  ground  that  the  law  of  the  Sabbath, 
as  purported  to  have  been  given  by  God  to  Moses, 
is  binding  upon  the  present  generation  on  the  first 
day  of  the  week. 

This  claim  is  believed  by  many  to  be  unscriptural, 
unchristian,  and  unreasonable.  It  is  unscriptural, 
for  in  the  Old  Testament  it  is  always  the  observance 
of  the  seventh  day  that  is  enjoined,  and  there  is  not 


78  SABBATH  OBSERVANCE. 

a  word  in  the  New  Testament  that  authorizes  its 
change  to  the  first  day.  Jesus  was  regarded  as  a  Sab- 
bath breaker.  Paul  refused  to  insist  on  the  Sabbath 
being  kept,  and  was  "afraid  of"  those  who  observed 
it.  The  first  day  of  the  week  is  mentioned  only  twice 
as  a  time  of  assembly,  and  the  term  Lord's  day  is 
only  used  once,  and  is  thought  by  many  to  mean  the 
day  of  the  Lord.  It  is  said  that  the  reputed  resur- 
rection of  Jesus  on  Sunday  furnishes  a  reason  for 
changing  the  Sabbath  to  that  day,  but  there  is  not  a 
word  of  scripture  to  this  effect. 

The  observance  of  Sunday  as  the  Sabbath  is  un- 
christian. The  early  Christian  fathers  did  not  recog- 
nize the  day  in  that  light,  and  though  their  writings 
contain  great  lists  of  faults,  no  allusion  is  made  to 
neglect  in  observing  Sunday  as  a  Sabbath,  nor  is  it 
anywhere  enjoined.  In  the  second  century  Justin 
Martyr  wrote  in  his  controversy  with  Trypho,  the 
Jew,  "  You  see  that  the  heavens  are  not  idle,  nor  do 
they  observe  the  Sabbath  ;"  and  he  says  of  Sabbaths, 
"There  is  no  need  of  them  since  Jesus  Christ ;"  and 
he  speaks  of  the  custom  as  "  weakmindedness."  Ire- 
nseus,  Clement,  Tertullian,  Origen,  and  others,  spoke 
against  Sabbath  observance.  It  was  not  sanctioned 
till  321  A.D.,  when  Constantino  gave  the  edict,  "  Let 
all  judges  and  inhabitants  of  cities  and  all  craftsmen 
rest  on  the  venerable  day  of  the  sun.  But  country- 
men may  freely  and  lawfully  attend  to  the  cultivation 
of  the  fields,  lest  by  delay  the  opportunity  granted 
by  the  favor  of  heaven  should  be  lost."  Through 
the  middle  ages  the  day  was  kept  with  great  laxity, 
and  the  reformers  strongly  opposed  the  sabbatical 
idea.     Luther  said :  "  If,  anywhere,  the  day  is  mada 


SABBATH  OBSERVANCE.  79 

holy  for  the-  mere  day's  sake  ;  if,  anywhere,  any  one 
sets  up  its  observance  on  a  Jewish  foundation,  then 
I  order  you  to  work  on  it,  to  ride  on  it,  to  feast  on 
it,  to  do  anything  to  remove  this  encroachment  on 
Christian  liberty."  When  John  Knox  visited  Calvin 
on  Sunday  afternoon,  he  found  him  playing  at  bowls. 
The  enforcement  of  the  Sabbath  was  opposed  by 
John  Milton,  Eichard  Baxter,  John  Bunyau,  Jeremy 
Taylor,  Dr.  Paley,  Archbishop  Whately,  and  many 
other  distinguished  members  of  the  Christian  church. 
The  first  Sunday  laws  were  enacted  in  England  dur- 
ing Queen  Elizabeth's  reign  [1558],  and  their  rigorous 
enforcement  suited  the  disposition  of  the  Puritans, 
who,  Macaulay  says,  "  hated  bear-baiting  not  because 
it  gave  pain  to  the  bear,  but  because  it  gave  pleasure 
to  the  spectators."  He  says:  "In  defiance  of  the 
express  and  reiterated  declaration  of  Luther  and 
Calvin,  they  turned  the  weekly  festival,  by  which  the 
church  had  from  the  primitive  times  commemorated 
the  resurrection  of  our  Lord,  into  a  Jewish  Sabbath." 
In  1595,  Mr.  Bound  published  a  book  maintaining 
that  the  Mosaic  law  of  the  Sabbath  was  applicable  to 
Sunday.  The  idea  suited  the  fanatical  temperament 
of  the  age,  and  in  1643  the  Sabbath  doctrine  was 
adopted  into  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith. 
It  is  only  in  English-speaking  countries  that  the 
doctrine  has  gained  ground,  and  an  overwhelming 
mass  of  testimony  shows  that  it  is  unsupported  by 
the  faith  and  practice  of  the  historic  church  and  its 
founders,  and  is  therefore  unchristian. 

It  is  unreasonable.  The  Sabbath  rests  on  the 
statement  that  Ood  made  the  world  in  six  days,  and 
rested  the  seventh.     Every  scholar  knows  that  this 


80  SABBATH  OBSERVANCE. 

statement  is  false ;  its  deductions  are  therefore  un- 
warranted. It  is  absurd  to  prescribe  the  same  form 
of  rest  for  all.  The  man  who  works  his  brain  all  the 
week  needs  physical  labor  on  Sunday.  The  outdoor 
laborer  may  do  well  on  Sunday  to  rest  his  body  and 
exercise  his  brain.  The  toilers  in  workshops,  stores, 
and  mills,  need  the  country  air  and  sunshine.  "  Means 
of  grace"  are  not  limited  to  churches,  but  on  the 
sunny  lawns  and  in  the  shady  groves  of  the  park,  on 
the  breezy  brow  of  the  mountain,  by  the  roaring 
waves  of  the  sea,  or  on  the  placid  lake,  nature  gives 
inspiration  to  every  aspirant  after  physical  and  men- 
tal improvement,  and  there  no  sexton  can  close  the 
windows  and  poison  the  lungs,  and  no  preacher  of 
false  dogmas  can  depress  the  mind. 

The  distinction  between  secular  and  sacred  is  harm- 
ful. All  days  are  equally  holy,  and  man's  welfare 
should  be  paramount  in  all.  Instead  of  limiting  his 
rest,  we  would  extend  it.  Toiling  from  twelve  to 
sixteen  hours  a  day,  and  then  a  total  release  for  a 
day,  is  not  a  wise  arrangement,  nor  does  it  give 
enough  rest  and  leisure  for  man's  welfare  and  best 
develo'Dment.  Short  hours  of  labor  must  be  secured 
for  all,  and  a  rest  day  when  every  form  of  true  recre- 
ation may  be  available.  Excursions  to  the  country 
at  cheap  prices  must  be  arranged ;  libraries,  mu- 
seums, art  galleries,  and  lecture  halls  must  be  opened. 
It  is  unreasonable  to  close  all  means  of  secular  in- 
struction and  diversion  on  the  workingman's  only 
day  of  leisure.  The  reform  is  being  carried  out  with 
admirable  results  in  many  cities.  Libraries,  museums, 
art  galleries,  and  kindred  institutions  should  be  open 
on  Sunday.    Is  God's  ear  better  pleased  with  the 


SABBATH  OBSEBYANOE.  81 

clang  of  cliurch  bells  than  with  the  music  of  the 
band :  or  is  man  more  elevated  bv  the  former  than 
by  the  latter  ?  Everything  good  for  man  should  be 
tolerated  on  Sunday.  "  Good  deeds  have  no  Sab- 
bath." The  refreshment  of  the  body  and  the  culti- 
vation of  the  mind  are  good  deeds,  and  no  day  is  too 
holy  for  their  exercise.  Men  must  be  free  to  go  to 
church  or  anywhere  else  on  Sunday,  as  judgment  and 
inclination  might  dictate.  The  Lord's  day  must  be- 
come man's  day  in  fulfilment  of  the  words  of  Jesus, 
"  The  Sabbath  was  made  for  man."  Those  who  have 
to  work  on  Sunday  for  the  benefit  of  their  fellows, 
should  enjoy  another  reh'  day.  We  should  all  unite 
to  preserve  a  day  of  rest  in  seven,  and  to  secure  a 
larger  amount  of  leisure  and  more  rational  use  of  it. 
The  ministers  cannot  be  blamed  for  adopting  the 
spirit  of  the  national  policy  and  protective  tariff,  and 
endeavoring  to  suppress  any  and  all  competitive  at- 
tractions and  rivals  to  the  church ;  they  are  only  acting 
as  enterprising  manufacturers  and  business  men  are 
doing,  but  the  people  have  a  right  to  say  whether 
they  will  tolerate  this  monopoly,  and  if  they  find  it 
is  not  supported  by  Scripture,  but  that  the  texts 
quoted  by  ministers  all  refer  to  the  Jewish  Sabbath ; 
if  they  learn  that  the  Christian  church  has  in  the 
past  opposed  turning  Sunday  into  a  Sabbath,  and  if 
they  realize  that  reason  dictates  diversity  of  recrea- 
tion, and  liberty  demands  freedom  of  choice,  they 
will  demand  the  sweeping  away  of  all  Sunda;  laws 
and  allow  common  sense  to  decide  what  is  the  best 
use  of  Sunday  for  each  and  all. 


ANCIENT  MORALITY, 

It  is  often  assumed  that,  apart  from  Christianity, 
there  is  no  morality,  and  that  we  are  indebted  to 
the  teachings  of  Jesus  for  what  are  termed  "  Chris- 
tian virtues." 

A  review  of  the  teachings  of  ancient  moralists 
shows  that  no  nation  has  any  monopoly  of  goodness 
or  of  moral  ideas,  and  that  the  division  of  the  world 
into  Christian  and  heathen,  as  implying  the  moral 
and  the  immoral,  is  unwarrantable. 

A  few  quotations  may  be  serviceable  to  show  the 
unity  of  opinion  about  general  morality  in  all  nations 
and  times,  and  to  prove  that  the  revelation  of  good- 
ness is  not  confined  to  any  peculiar  people,  but  is  the 
reward  of  every  student  of  nature. 

Rig-Yeda-Sanhita,  1500  B.C.  "His  path  is  easy 
and  without  thorns  who  does  what  is  right."  "To 
the  giver  thou  givest." 

Manu,  1200  B.C.     "There  are  two  roads  that  con- 
duct to  perfect  virtue — to  be  true  and  to  do  no  evil 
to   any   creature."      "Where   women   are   honored, 
there  the  deities  are   pleased  ;  but  when  they  are  \ 
dishonored,  then  all  religious  acts  become  fruitless." 

Zoroaster,  1200  B.C.  "Your  only  savior  is  your 
deeds."  "Give  me,  O  God,  the  two  desires  to  see 
and  to  self-question."  "  Let  us  be  such  as  help  the 
life  of  the  future." 

Arthava  Veda.  "Truth  which  is  mighty,  right- 
eousness which  is  strong,  consecration  and  dedication 
to  holiness,  sustain  the  world." 


ANCIENT  MORALITY.  83 

Buddha,  born  622  b.c.  "Never  will  I  seek  nor  re- 
ceive private  individual  salvation,  never  enter  into 
final  peace  alone,  but  forever  and  everywhere  will  I 
live  and  strive  for  the  universal  redemption  of  every 
creature  throughout  all  worlds.  Until  all  are  deliv^ 
ered,  never  will  I  leave  the  world  of  sin,  sorrow,  and 
struggle,  but  will  remain  where  I  am."  "  A  man  who 
foolishly  does  me  wrong,  I  will  return  to  him  the 
protection  of  my  ungrudging  love ;  the  more  evil 
comes  from  him,  the  more  good  shall  go  from  me." 
"  If  anything  is  to  be  done,  let  a  man  do  it ;  let  him 
attack  it  vigorously." 

Lao-tze,  604  B.C.  "  Virtue  in  its  grandest  aspect 
is  neither  more  nor  less  than  following  reason." 
"Recompense  injury  with  kindness." 

Confucius,  551-479  B.C.  "  What  you  do  not  wish 
done  to  yourself,  do  not  do  to  others."  "  While  you 
are  not  able  to  serve  men,  how  can  you  serve  the 
gods?"  "  A  man  should  not  be  concerned  that  he  has 
no  place,  he  should  be  concerned  to  fit  himself  for 
one."  "  Acknowledge  thy  benefits  by  the  return  of 
other  benefits,  but  never  return  injuries.'"  "  Recom- 
pense injury  with  justice,  and  return  good  for  good." 
"  Who  lay  up  goodness  have  gladness,  who  lay  up 
evil  have  sadness." 

Thales,  643-548  B.C.  "  Avoid  doing  what  you  would 
blame  others  for  doing."     "  Know  thyself." 

Solon,  638-558  B.C.     "  Make  reason  thy  guide." 

Pittacus,  570  B.C.  "  Whatever  you  do,  do  it  weil." 
He  wrote  the  "  Golden  Rule." 

Cleobulus,  671  B.O.    "  Love  your  enemies."   "Avoid 


excess." 


Chilo,  542  B.O.     "Honest  loss  is  preferable   to 


84  ANCIENT  MORALITY. 

shameful  gain."    **  Think  before  you  speak."    "Never 
ridicule  the  unfortunate." 

Socrates,  469-400  B.C.  "  True  felicity  is  not  to  be 
derived  from  external  possessions,  but  from  wisdom, 
which  consists  in  the  knowledge  and  practice  of  vir- 
tue."    "The  honest  man  is  alone  happy." 

Aristippus,  365  B.C.  "  Prefer  labor  to  idleness,  un- 
less you  prefer  rust  to  brightness."  "Friendship 
is  reciprocal  benevolence,  which  inclines  each  person 
to  be  as  anxious  for  another  person's  welfare  as  for 
his  own."  "Young  people  should  be  taught  those 
things  which  shall  be  useful  to  them  when  they  be- 
come men." 

Democritus,  470-361  B.C.  "  It  is  criminal  not  only 
to  do  miscliief,  but  to  wish  it."  "  He  who  sub- 
dues his  passions  is  more  heroic  than  he  who  van- 
quishes an  enemy."  "  Do  nothing  shameful  though 
you  are  alone."  "Every  country  is  open  to  a  wise 
man,  for  he  is  a  citizen  of  the  world." 

Epicurus,  341-270  B.C.  "  To  be  impious  is  not  to 
take  away  from  the  illiterate  the  gods  which  they 
have,  it  is  to  attribute  to  these  gods  the  opinions  of 
the  vulgar." 

Euripides,  400  B.C.,  made  a  player  say,  "I  swore 
with  my  mouth,  but  not  with  my  heart."  Socrates 
was  so  offended  that  he  left  the  theater,  and  the  poet 
was  tried  for  suggesting  the  utterance  of  falsehood. 

Cicero.  "  Promote  the  happiness  of  one  another." 
"Love  the  public  good." 

These  few  extracts  show  parallels  to  all  the  moral 
maxims  of  Jesus,  and  are  in  no  wise  inferior  in  spirit 
An  extensive  collection  of  wise  sayings  of  the  ancients 
may  be  found  in  Conway's  "  Sacred  Anthology." 


WHAT    HAVE    UNBEUEVERS 
DONE  FOR  THE  WORLD? 

This  question  has  been- repeatedly  hurled  from  the 
pulpit  in  a  tone  implying  that  the  answer  must  be — 
"  Nothing." 

The  saying  attributed  to  Jesus,  "  By  their  fruits  ye 
shall  know  them,"  is  a  wise  maxim,  and  it  behooves 
those  whom  Christians  style  unbelievers  to  show 
that  rationalistic  opinions  are  justified  by  their  re- 
sults. If  they  fail  to  show  that  the  views  they  sup- 
port have  been  beneficial  to  those  who  hold  them  and 
to  the  world  at  large,  they  leave  ground  for  the  impu- 
tation that  these  ideas  are  false,  for  what  is  true  is 
useful. 

The  term,  unbeliever,  as  used  by  the  clergy,  means 
one  who  denies  that  the  Bible  is  the  word  of  God,  or 
a  revelation  in  any  sense  that  may  not  be  applied  to 
other  writings,  and  who,  therefore,  does  not  accept 
its  teachings  as  necessarily  true.  They  are  often 
called  opponents  of  the  Bible,  but  they  are  no  more 
so  than  they  are  opponents  of  Homer,  iEsop's  Fables, 
or  Mother  Goose.  They  accept  what  appears  to  be 
true  in  all  literature,  and  oppose  what  is  proved  to 
be  false.  Belief  in  the  inspiration  of  the  Bible  has 
compelled  the  support  of  all  its  statements,  for,  as 
Kenan  says,  "  In  a  divine  book  everything  must  be 
true.     It  must  have  no   contradictions."     As  the 


36  WHAT  HAVE   UNBELIEVERS 

Bible  is  merely  a  record  of  human  opinion  in  earlier 
ages,  it  follows  that  nearly  every  great  discoverer  has 
been  deemed  an  opponent  of  the  Bible.  If  we,  there- 
fore, take  the  verdict  of  the  church  as  to  the  pro- 
moters of  progress,  we  shall  reply  to  the  question — 
What  have  unbelievers  done  for  the  world? — Every- 
thing ! 

For  a  thousand  years  the  world  lay  dormant  under 
the  spell  of  belief  in  revelation,  but  observation  ol 
nature  gradually  awoke  doubt  and  dissent.  Coper- 
nicus discovered  the  present  system  of  astronomy, 
but  dying  a  few  hours  after  his  book  was  issued,  he 
escaped  the  persecution  commenced  by  the  Christian 
church  against  all  who  held  that  the  world  moved, 
and  thus  were  unbelievers  in  the  Bible.  Giordano 
Bruno,  who  espoused  this  theory  and  proclaimed  it 
over  all  Europe,  even  to  the  University  of  Oxford, 
was  burned  to  death  under  the  walls  of  the  Vatican. 
Galileo,  with  the  telescope,  gained  proof  of  the  move- 
ment of  the  earth,  but  after  braving  Christian  perse- 
cution, imprisonment,  and  perhaps  torture,  he  was 
forced  to  pronounce  publicly  and  on  his  knees  liis 
recantation  :  "  I,  Galileo,  being  in  my  seventieth  year, 
being  a  prisoner  and  on  my  knees  and  before  your 
examiners,  having  before  my  eyes  the  holy  gospels, 
which  I  touch  with  my  hands,  abjure,  curse,  and  de- 
test the  error  and  the  heresy  of  the  movement  of  the 
earth." 

Galileo's  persecution  repressed  the  expressions  of 
Descartes  and  other  unbelievers  in  Bible  science, 
but  Campanella,  the  seven  times  tortured,  wrote  an 
apology  for  Galileo,  and  Vanini,  who  taught  the 
new  knowledge,  was  killed  by  the  church.     Kepler 


DONE  FOR  THE  WORLD?  87 

proclaimed  his  three  laws  of  planetary  motion,  and 
in  spite  of  Romish  curses  and  Protestant  persecu- 
tions, he  maintained  his  views,  and  wrote  to  his  ad- 
versaries, the  believers  in  the  Bible,  "  Ye  would  pro- 
hibit the  promulgation  of  the  true  system  of  the 
structure  of  the  universe."  Newton  followed,  and 
conlirmed  the  Copornican  theories.  Leibnitz,  the 
German  philosopher,  said,  "  Newton  has  robbed  the 
deity  of  some  of  his  most  excellent  attributes,  and 
has  sapped  the  foundation  of  natural  religion."  But 
the  evidence  had  now^  become  too  strong  to  be  re- 
sisted, and  Christians  decided  that  the  Bible  was  not 
inspired  about  astronomy. 

Men  next  began  to  doubt  the  truth  of  Bible  geol- 
ogy. In  the  sixteenth  century  Fracastoro  and  Palissy, 
the  famous  potter,  said  that  fossils  proved  the  great 
age  of  the  world.  Those  who  adopted  this  opinion 
were  pronounced  "  opponents  of  the  Bible,"  and  their 
books  were  destroyed.  Buffon,  tlie  French  natur- 
alist, published  views,  now  generally  accepted,  as  to 
the  formation  of  continents,  but  the  Parisian  Faculty 
of  Theology  compelled  him  to  recant  and  say,  "I 
abandon  everything  in  my  book  respecting  the  for- 
mation of  the  earth,  and  generally  all  that  may  be 
contrary  to  the  narration  of  Moses."  In  the  present 
century,  believers  in  the  Bible  have  assailed  the  most 
eminent  geologists  as  "  infidels,"  "  impuguers  of  the 
sacred  records,"  and  "assailants  of  the  volume  of 
God."  Hugh  Miller,  unable  to  reconcile  the  Bible 
with  facts,  sought  refuge  in  death  ;  but  Sir  Charles 
Lyell  braved  the  Bible  and  the  church,  and  founded 
modern  geology ;  and  now'  Christians  tell  us  "  The 
Bible  was  not  written  to  teach  geology."    But  these 


88  WHAT  HAVE  UNBELIEVERS 

concessions  are  only  made  when  the  battle  is  won*, 
until  then  the  supporters  of  the  Bible  are  the  oppo- 
nents of  progress  and  term  its  promoters  unbelievers. 

The  early  chemists  were  treated  by  believers  as 
sorcerers,  and  struggled  against  the  prejudices  ex- 
cited by  belief  in  the  Bible.  Roger  Bacon,  who  made 
known  the  composition  of  gunpowder,  and  invented 
the  magnifying  glass,  was  interdicted  by  the  pope 
from  teaching  in  the  university,  and  suffered  impris- 
onment ;  and  even  as  late  as  the  last  century,  Joseph 
Priestley,  the  discoverer  of  oxygen,  and  of  whom  Pro- 
fessor Huxley  says,  "  the  number  of  discoveries  that 
he  made  was  something  marvelous,"  was  driven  from 
England  by  religious  bigotry. 

Surgery  was  prohibited  by  the  church  of  Rome ; 
and  many  of  the  noted  men  who  have  promoted 
knowledge  of  anatomy  have  been  treated  with  obloquy 
and  persecution  by  believers.  Unbelief  has  become  so 
identified  with  this  branch  of  science,  that  a  proverb 
says,  "Where  there  are  three  doctors,  there  are  two 
atheists."  Anesthetics  were  opposed  as  impious, 
but  the  objection  was  answered  on  Bible  grounds  by 
Sir  James  Young  Simpson,  who  called  attention  to 
the  story  of  the  first  surgical  operation.  Before 
Jehovah  took  the  rib  out  of  Adam,  he  caused  a  deep 
sleep  to  fall  on  him. 

A  large  proportion  of  the  eminent  names  in  modern 
science  are  those  of  men  who  have  been  termed  un- 
believers. From  the  Freethinker,  Franklin,  to  the 
Agnostic,  Huxley,  a  long  roll  of  names  represent  re- 
jecters of  revelation.  Galton  has  ascertained  that 
among  English  men  of  science  only  two  in  ten  have 
any   religious   bias,  and   not   many  actively   accept 


DONE  FOR  THE  WOSLD?  89 

revelation;  and  that  out  of  six  hundred  and  sixty 
names  on  the  council  lists  of  scientific  societies,  only 
sixteen  are  clergymen.  It  is  well  known  that  many 
of  the  great  inventors  of  the  age,  like  the  most  emi- 
nent of  all,  Edison,  are  unbelievers. 

In  philosophy  and  literature,  from  Descartes  to 
Spencer,  many  of  the  brightest  names  are  those  that 
have  been  denounced  by  believers.  Among  them  we 
may  recall  those  of  Spinoza,  Montaigne,  Bolingbroke, 
Mirabaud,  D'Holbach,  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  Mat- 
thew Tindal,  Thomas  Hobbes,  Anthony  Collins, 
Hunter,  Gibbon,  Yolney,  Voltaire,  Paine,  Goethe, 
Madame  Roland,  "  George  Sand,"  Harriet  Martineau, 
Carlyle,  George  Eliot,  Dr.  Draper,  Max  Mttller, 
Holyoake,  Mill,  Darwin,  and  Spencer.  Do  we  need 
to  ask.  What  have  these  done  for  the  world  ?  Even 
one  who  has  made  the  world  laugh,  as  the  unbeliev- 
ing "Mark  Twain"  has  done,  may  be  accounted  a 
benefactor.  In  poetry  we  have  Burns,  Byron,  Shelley, 
Emerson,  and  Longfellow  ranking  among  unbelievers. 

Among  statesmen  and  reformers  we  have  Washing- 
ton, Jefferson,  Lincoln,  Garibaldi,  Mazzini,  Garrison, 
Sumner,  Phillips,  and  other  leaders  in  the  anti- 
slavery  movement.  Woman's  suffrage  was  first  agi- 
tated by  Freethinking  women,  and  now  that  it  is 
winning  its  way  Christians  are  espousing  it.  "  Infi- 
dels "  have  ever  been  leaders  in  reform. 

Among  many  philanthropists,  unbelievers  in  the 
Bible,  who  have  donated  large  sums  of  money,  we 
may  note  Robert  Owen,  who  gave  half  a  million  dol- 
lars to  promote  education  and  cooperation  ;  Peter  B. 
Brigham,  who  gave  three  millions  for  a  hospital; 
Stephen  Girard,  who  gave  six  millions  for  education ; 


90  WHAT  HAVE  UNBELIEVERS 

James  Lick,  who  gave  a  million  for  science ;  Peter 
Cooper,  who  gave  three  millions  for  education ; 
Smithson,  who  founded  the  Smithsonian  Institution 
at  Washington ;  Seybert,  Maclure,  and  Redmond. 
Unitarians  have  been  foremost  in  humanitarian  work, 
and  the  names  of  Channing,  Martineau,  and  Parker 
will  ever  be  honored  for  their  advocacy  of  human 
rights  and  good  works. 

This  brief  sketch  shows  that  many  of  the  world's 
benefactors  have  been  called  unbelievers,  but  we 
might  consistently  claim  that  all  advance  is  due  to 
the  principle  of  unbelief.  The  progress  of  mankind 
depends  on  investigation  of  phenomena  and  diffusion 
of  knowledge.  Skepticism  is  necessary  to  secure 
this.  Doubt  is  the  father  of  knowledge.  Liberty  to 
examine  is  the  idea  of  Freethought.  The  authority 
of  a  church  or  a  Bible  is  fatal  to  this  principle. 

We  might  retort,  What  have  believers  done  for  the 
world?  We  might  say  that  almost  every  scientific 
advance  or  social  reform  has  been  opposed  by  Chris- 
tians. We  could  mention  that  when  the  art  of  print- 
ing was  discovered,  the  Bishop  of  London  said,  "We 
must  in  some  way  destroy  this  infernal  art,  or  it  will 
some  day  destroy  us."  We  could  quote  John  Bright, 
who  said,  "The  bishops  of  the  church  of  England 
have  seldom  aided  legislation  in  the  interest  of  hu- 
manity ;"  Macaulay,  who  says,  "  The  church  of  Eng- 
land for  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  was  the  steady 
enemy  of  public  liberty;"  Lange,  who  says,  "Edu- 
cation and  enlightenment,  as  a  rule,  go  hand  in  hand 
with  the  decrease  of  the  clergy ;"  Spencer,  who  says, 
"But  for  science  we  should  still  be  worshiping 
fetishes."     Believers  have  been  so  concerned  with  a 


DONE  FOR  THE   WORLD?  91 

future  world  that  they  have  left  the  improvement  of 
this  world  to  unbelievers.  If  the  question  is  to  be 
settled  by  counting  heads,  unbelievers  have  nothing 
to  fear. 

But  when  the  question  is  rightly  interpreted  to 
mean,  Is  progress  best  promoted  by  adherence  to 
traditional  authority  or  by  free  inquiry?  then  com- 
mon sense  joins  with  universal  experience  to  pro- 
claim that  unbelief  in  the  finality  of  old  customs  or 
established  opinions  is  essential  to  all  advance. 
When  asked,  What  have  unbelievers  done  for  the 
world?  we  may  fitly  answer.  They  have  shown  that 
all  improvement  arises  from  unbelief  in  revelation 
upon  any  topic.  Where  revelation  begins,  inquiry 
ends.  A  man  who  believed  that  God  had  revealed 
the  true  system  of  road-making,  or  ship-building,  or 
science,  or  religion,  would  never  dare  to  think  of  im- 
proving either.  But  the  skeptic  would  not  be  de- 
terred from  advance.  The  theory  that  the  Bible  or 
the  church  has  final  knowledge  upon  any  subject 
has  been  the  greatest  drawback  to  progress.  The 
forward  march  of  the  world  follows  the  vanguard  of 
unbelief. 


CHRISTIANITY  AND   CIVILIZA- 
TION. 

The  countries  where  the  highest  civilization  pre- 
vails are  known  as  Christendom.  It  is  therefore  as- 
serted that  the  Christian  religion  is  the  cause  of 
civilization.  This  is  a  most  important  question,  be- 
cause our  best  way  of  learning  how  to  promote  prog- 
ress in  the  future  is  to  find  out  what  has  been  the 
chief  means  of  its  advancement  in  the  past.  All  that 
is  distinctive  in  Christianity  is  the  doctrine  that  the 
salvation  of  men  from  punishment  after  death  de- 
pends upon  belief  in  the  God-man  Jesus.  Its  other 
dogmas  are  common  to  older  religions,  and  its  ap- 
proved ethics  are  merely  restatements  of  universal 
morality. 

If  the  advancement  of  society  depends  upon  belief 
in  Jesus,  we  should  expect  the  evidence  to  be  appar- 
ent in  every  community  where  this  creed  exists.  But 
Abyssinia  has  had  Christianity  for  fifteen  hundred 
years,  and  is  one  of  the  most  degraded  nations. 
Italy,  Spain,  Ireland,  and  French  Canada  are  the 
most  Christian  nations.  Are  they  the  most  enlight- 
ened ?  Other  Christian  countries,  such  as  Armenia, 
Bussia,  and  Greece,  have  made  but  little  progress ; 
and  Mexico,  South  America,  and  the  Philippine 
Islands,  that  have  enjoyed  the  influences  of  Chris- 
tianity for  a  ^ong  time,  are  chiefly  engrossed  by 
tumults  and  cock-fighting. 


CHRISTIANITY  AND   CIVILIZATION.  98 

For  sixteen  centuries  Christianity  had  opportunity 
to  show  its  power  in  Europe,  but  it  was  only  when 
the  printing-press  got  to  work  and  scholars  circu- 
lated a  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  nature  that  society 
made  any  marked  or  rapid  advance.  The  most  pro- 
gressive countries  are  those  where  the  principle  of 
free  inquiry  has  modified  Christianity.  Skeptical 
Germany  is  in  the  forefront  of  progress,  and  as  Eng- 
land, France,  and  America  escape  from  the  trammels 
of  ecclesiasticism,  just  so  fast  do  their  institutions 
improve. 

The  history  of  reform  legislation  in  England  com- 
pletely refutes  the  claim  of  Christianity  as  a  civilizer. 
The  prelates  of  the  English  church  are  legislators, 
and  their  application  of  religion  to  politics  is  a  fair 
test  of  the  question.  In  the  House  of  Lords  they 
have  joined  with  the  peers  in  opposing  nearly  all  the 
great  reforms  of  this  century.  In  1807,  they  rejected 
the  education  bill,  and  down  to  the  present  have  bit- 
terly opposed  free  education  and  the  board  schools. 
In  1810,  they  rejected  the  bill  abolishing  the  death 
penalty  for  stealing  goods  worth  five  shillings ;  and 
in  1839  they  continued  the  death  penalty  for  sheep- 
stealing.  In  1825,  they  rejected  the  Catholic  relief 
bill.  They  denied  rights  to  the  Jews  until  1858. 
Twenty-one  bishops  assisted  in  rejecting  the  reform 
bill  in  1831.  For  thirty  years  they  prevented  the 
protection  of  miners  and  opposed  many  factory  acts. 
They  have  fought  all  efforts  to  extend  suffrage  ;  have 
refused -justice  to  Ireland;  refused  to  legalize  mar- 
riage with  a  deceased  wife's  sister ;  opposed  life 
peerages  and  reform  of  the  House  of  Lords ;  rejected 
the  army  purchase  bill,  and  the  bill  for  the  housing 


94  CHRISTIANITY   AND   CIVILIZATION. 

of  the  poor ;  refused  to  amend  burial  laws  or  to 
abolish  ch^irch  rates ;  opposed  affirmation  bills  and 
abolition  of  university  tests ;  rejected  the  bill  taking 
the  tax  off  paper,  which  meant  a  cheap  press.  But 
to  enumerate  their  misdeeds  would  be  to  mention 
almost  every  advance  that  society  has  made.  Their 
obstructive  conduct  arises  from  the  fact  that  they 
have  taken  the  customs,  morality,  and  dogmas  of 
ancient  peoples  to  be  of  divine  obligation  at  the 
present  time.  The  Christian  religion  and  its  enforce- 
ment of  the  authority  of  the  Bible  is  the  cause  of  all 
these  evils. 

Every  advance  in  learning  beyond  the  knowledge 
of  the  Hebrews  has  been  assailed  by  Christians  as 
blasphemy.  They  opposed  Copernicus,  burned 
Bruno,  imprisoned  Galileo,  tortured  Campanella, 
killed  Vanini,  denounced  Kepler,  Newton,  and  Priest- 
ley ;  and  all  the  scientists  and  reformers  of  this  cent- 
urj  have  had  to  encounter  attacks  from  believers  in 
the  Bible. 

Modern  progress  is  coincident  with  the  advance  of 
science.  It  is  knowledge  of  nature,  not  belief  in 
God,  that  has  elevated  mankind.  The  compass,  the 
printing-press,  steam,  electricity,  inventions  and  arts, 
have  become  the  servants  of  man,  and  have  done 
more  for  his  advancement  in  three  centuries  than 
prayers  and  faith  in  Jesus  accomplished  in  fifteen 
centuries  preceding.  If  the  teachings  of  Jesus  and 
the  apostles  had  been  heeded,  there  would  always 
have  been  submission  to  "the  powers  that  be,"  who 
"  are  ordained  of  God ;"  the  revolutions  in  England, 
America,  and  France  would  never  have  taken  place, 
and  the  world  would  have  been  groaning  under  the 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  CIVILIZATION.  95 

thralldom  of  kings  and  priests  in  a  far  greater  degree 
than  at  present.  Jesus  taught  non-resistance  and  the 
turning  of  the  cheek  to  the  smiter,  but  all  the  nations 
promote  civilization  by  the  sword. 

Early  Christianity  opposed  the  culture  of  Greece 
and  the  science  of  Egypt.  Libraries,  schools,  ob- 
servatories, and  laboratories  were  put  under  the  ban 
and  destroyed,  and  Christianity  is  largely  to  blame 
for  the  ten  centuries  of  ignorance  that  followed.  We 
are  indebted  to  the  Mohammedant'  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  learning  during  this  period  and  its  introduc- 
tion into  Spain,  where,  however,  Christianity  again 
crushed  it.  Learned  writers  have  shown  that  priority 
is  due  to  the  Buddhists  for  the  establishment  of 
hospitals,  and  to  the  Mohammedans  for  the  founding 
of  insane  asylums.  Almshouses  existed  among  the 
Chinese  long  before  the  time  of  Christ.  Rome  and 
Greece  cared  for  the  poor,  the  sick,  and  the  aged. 

It  is  true  that  in  the  most  civilized  countries  the 
Bible  is  read,  but  it  is  also  true  that  they  are  all  in 
the  temperate  zone  and  that  their  inhabitants  are 
mainly  of  the  so-called  Caucasian  race.  Christianity 
cannot  be  the  essential  cause  of  progress,  for  obser- 
vation shows  that  social  advance  is  coincident  with 
the  decline  of  "  faith."  It  is  as  men  gain  freedom  of 
thought  and  liberty  of  action  that  knowledge  increases 
and  society  improves ;  but  supernatural  religion  is 
opposed  to  this  development.  Men  must  be  emanci- 
pated from  these  beliefs ;  and  under  the  reign  of 
reason  prosperity  and  happiness  will  flourish  and 
endure. 


,  THE  SECULAR  NEW  YEAR. 

.  Many  of  us  remember  the  Christian  New  Year  of 
our  youth.  The  solemn  sermon  on  the  last  Sunday 
of  the  year — "  The  harvest  is  past,  the  summer  is 
ended,  and  we  are  not  saved ;"  the  frantic  effort  to 
"  become  a  Christian "  before  the  new  year ;  the 
watch-night  prayer-meeting,  waiting  till  the  midnight 
bell  tolled,  the  New  Year  was  ushered  in,  and  the 
awful  question  arose,  "  Does  it  find  my  soul  redeemed 
or  am  I  still  a  lost  sinner  ?"  the  New  Year's  written 
resolutions — to  pray,  to  read  the  Bible,  never  to  speak 
ill  of  any  one,  not  to  be  angry  ;  the  utter  failure  at 
the  end  of  a  week ;  the  despair  of  salvation ;  the 
growing  indifference,  until  the  next  revival  effort  in 
the  church  or  another  New  Year.  What  orthodox 
child  has  not  had  some  such  experience  in  "  the  good 
old  times  "  of  religion,  faith,  and  God,  now  happily 
fading  into  the  better  day  of  science,  reason,  and 
good. 

There  is  doubtless  profit  in  the  use  of  set  times  for 
retrospect  of  our  lives,  examination  of  our  purposes, 
and  resolves  as  to  future  effort,  and  the  New  Year  is 
an  appropriate  season  for  it.  Secularism  permits  all 
that  is  good  in  this  custom,  but  banishes  the  fear  of 
hell,  the  morbid  conscience,  the  waste  of  emotion, 
the  misdirected  effort.  It  teaches — learn  from  the 
past  how  to  do  better  and  be  l?etter  in  the  future; 


THE   SECtJLAR  NEW  YEAB.  97 

brood  not  over  mistakes  and  misfortunes,  but  having 
learned  their  lesson  apply  it  to  making  your  life  suc- 
cessful. It  gives  the  cheer  of  knowing  that  there  is 
no  arbitrary  interference  with  the  course  of  events 
either  by  a  wrathful  God  or  a  chastening  father,  but 
that  cause  and  e£fect  pursue  their  unhindered  way, 
and  it  is  only  a  question  of  man's  knowledge  or  igno- 
rance as  to  in  what  degree  events  shall  be  benefits 
or  injuries.  The  Christian  has  always  the  dread 
before  him  that  God,  in  fierce  displeasure  or  infinite 
mercy  and  loving  kindness,  may  see  fit  to  thwart  all 
his  schemes,  destroy  his  property,  bereave  him  of 
family,  and  wreck  his  earthly  happiness ;  but  he  tries 
to  enjoy  the  consolation  that  it  will  be  for  his  spiritual 
and  everlasting  welfare.  The  Secularist,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  free  from  this  element  of  uncertainty  in  his 
calculations.  If  his  plans  are  well  laid,  his  efforts 
commensurate,  his  knowledge  sufficient,  and  his  work 
in  accord  with  nature's  conditions,  he  will  succeed 
and  he  need  not  fear  that  a  loving  but  meddlesome 
father  will  interfere,  snatch  away  the  fruits  of  his 
toil  and  give  them  to  some  lazy  scoundrel  who  has 
done  nothing  to  deserve  them.  If  he  does  fail,  it  is 
owing  to  the  limitations  of  human  knowledge ;  and 
its  lesson  is  not  submission  to  God  and  the  study  of 
apology  for  conduct  on  his  part,  which,  if  indulged  in 
by  a  fellow-man,  would  be  considered  mean  and 
cruel,  but  the  misfortune  stimulates  to  a  study  of  its 
causes  and  to  future  efforts  to  remove  the  obstacles 
to  human  progress,  which  are  solely  those  that  man's 
conquest  of  natural  forces  will  overcome. 

Christianity  is  the  religion  of  childhood.    Secular- 
ism is  the  faith  of  manhood.     The  child  begins  the 


98  THE  SECULAB  NEW  YEAR. 

New  Year  happy  in  the  thought,  My  father  will  pro- 
vide for  me  in  the  coming  months.  The  man  says, 
Life  is  before  me  ;  my  character,  industry,  and  intel- 
ligence are  the  means  for  its  development ;  I  will  do 
my  best,  and  if  results  are  hindered  by  causes  be- 
yond my  control,  I  will  accept  the  inevitable  and  try 
again  to  overcome.  Christianity  is  dependence ; 
Secularism  is  self-reliance  and  fortitude.  The  child, 
the  slave,  the  pauper,  possess  a  kind  of  careless  en- 
joyment ;  but  the  highest  happiness  comes  from  suc- 
cessful achievement.  Manly  effort  is  better  for  the 
individual  and  for  the  world  than  childish,  slavish,  or 
beggarly  dependence. 

Any  one  who  has  escaped  from  Christianity  to  Ra- 
tionalism knows  that  he  has  gained  in  cheerfulness. 
The  great  bugbear  God  is  no  longer  a  disturbing  ele- 
ment in  his  orbit,  the  horror  of  a  hell  into  which  his 
amiable  but  heretical  fellows  are  being  plunged  yearly 
by  millions  has  vanished,  an  eternal  world  is  deferred 
consideration  until  its  existence  is  proved ;  and 
thought  and  purpose  are  concentrated  upon  present 
effort  and  earthly  hopes.  The  Christian  sometimes 
says,  I  will  not  give  up  my  religion  until  you  can  give 
me  something  bettor.  There  it  is,  good  instead  of 
God;  natural  consequences  in  place  of  heaven  and 
hell;  manly  self-reliance  instead  of  childhood  and 
pauperism  ;  hopefulness  for  the  human  race  ;  fellow- 
ship with  all  men,  regulated  only  by  personal  worth 
and  attainment,  not  determined  by  divine  election ; 
a  belief  in  natural  forces  in  place  of  supernatural 
fancies ;  escape  from  gods,  angels,  devils,  witches, 
ghosts,  and  miracles ;  reason  in  place  of  supersti- 
tion ;  sense  instead  of  nonsense ;  knowledge  in  lieu 


THE  SECULAR  NEW  YEAR.  99 

of  ignorance  ;  freedom  of  thought  as  a  substitute  for 
mental  slavery.  Who  would  live  in  the  medieval 
huts  of  Christianity  when  he  may  inhabit  the  modern 
palace  of  Reason,  founded  on  the  rock  of  Naturalism, 
adorned  with  Knowledge,  and  surrounded  by  the 
fields  of  Freedom  ? 

The  celebration  of  a  New  Year's  Day  is  a  custom 
of  great  antiquity  and  was  generally  an  occasion  of 
festive  rejoicing.  The  early  Christian  fathers — 
Chrysostom,  Ambrose,  Augustine,  and  others — "  pro- 
hibited in  Christian  use  all  festive  celebration,  and, 
on  the  contrary,  directed  that  the  Christian  year 
should  be  opened  with  a  day  of  prayer,  fasting,  and 
humiliation."  It  is  said  that  we  are  indebted  to  that 
"  great  monarch  and  great  man,"  Julian  the  Apostate, 
for  the  promotion  of  the  festive  celebration  of  the 
day,  and  the  Fathers  did  not  succeed  in  wholly  ex- 
tinguishing its  joys  with  their  "  most  holy  religion." 
Let  us  then  enter  on  the  New  Year  with  exaltation 
instead  of  humiliation,  with  feasting  instead  of  fast- 
ing, and  with  work  instead  of  prayer ;  and  in  its  days 
and  months  let  our  aim  be  to  preserve  the  cheerful- 
ness that  comes  of  hopefulness,  the  contented  mind 
that  is  a  continual  feast,  and  the  diligent  use  of  op- 
portunities for  our  own  advancement  and  the  world's 
benefit ;  and  so  we  shall  find  in  Secularism — a  Happy 
New  Year. 


0  I. 


•  •        !<         .  •  •  •  . 


•    •••  •♦      ♦•  • *•«• 


0    A        0 

,1  if     « 

4     4         4 


■)  »  ...      J   •"'',» «  '     c  ■'  •  -     • 

.,.,.'<".  ..»■•• 

^    •    '.    ■  '.        '      "  e     a  « 0   ^      * 

•    >      .        '      '.     J    '■  •    1.  '   ■'"  '''- 

««       «      ao  «•<■*       til        >' 

,.  .:         *     V     -.0    .:,  C  -  f     *  0    '^         -  • 

t-   1        o      ^♦■*' 'c*-o  fr   ■  O  0   0    «    f.      ^'      *_ 

««       vie'  •  f.a**':^' 

0      J.  o  *  ,«  »  \.  *    •>   ■'  ♦ 


B.    F.   UNDERWOODS    WORKS. 
Essays  and  Lectures.     Embracing  Influence  of  Chris* 

liunity  on  Civilization ;  Christianity  and  Materialism ;  What  Lib 
eralism  offers  in  Placo  of  Christianity;  Scientiti'^  Materialism; 
Woman;  Spiritualism  from  a  Materialistic  Standpoint;  Paine 
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BIBLE    MYTHS, 

AND  THEIR  PARALLELS  IN  OTHER  RELIGIONS: 

nRiNa  A 

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and  gave  them  fruit  of, a  wonderful  tree,  which  imparted 
immortality.  Evil  inclinations  then  entered  their  hearts, 
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which  they  were  destined.  They  killed  beasts,  and  clothed 
themselves  in  their  skins. 


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discerning  e  y  e » 
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observation  of  the 
vulgar.— [Voltaire. 


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vateand  Social  Wealtli ;  Iian<10wnerBhip;  Private  Property  in  Land;  Capital  and 
the  Productive  Factors;  Partnoraliip and  Co-operation ;  Lawof  Contracta ;  Mom  y 
and  Credit ;  Of  Value,  or  Economic  Putioa;  Taxation  aa  a  Ilemedy;  KeforniH, 
not  Itcmcdiea ;  Suggeationa  to  Legialatora ;  Summary  of  Definitions— Economic 
and  laonomic. 

ExTBAOT.— From  conQueats  witli  Mudgeona,  aworda,  and  apeara,  as  in  the 
earlier  agea,  civiliam  liiia  inaugiirntcd  a  war  of  cunning  and  fraud,  wlioae 
weapona  are  teclinical  ternia,  anrewd  devieca,  claaa  legialation,  and  forma  of 
law  recognizing  no  rightt)  au  Buprcmu  but  thouu  of  i)ropurty  and  the  law  of  tho 
market. 

ExTitACT.— To  get  something  for  nothing  bccomea  a  habit  and  acultua.whicb, 
aa  a  man  growa  in  years,  ho  tries  to  reduce  to  an  art.  If,  by  ahrewd  device  or 
subtle  pretenae,  ho  can  whollv  escape  work,  and  saddle  tho  expouso  of  life  upon 
othera,  ho  learns  that,  under  tho  teachinga  of  our  exact  economy  and  reformed 
tlieology,  ho  will  bo  entiled  to  aociai  distiuction  and  respect,  and  to  have  his 
position  defoudod  by  learned  professor  and  titled  dignitary,  both  secular  and 
religious. 

Shows  throughout  a  complete  mastery  of  the  aubjoct. — ^ociolooist. 

Very  radical  in  his  views.  Written  with  force  and  evident  thought.— X^artjtaa 
Cily  Times. 

A  work  of  inestimable  value  in  the  new  field  of  thought,  and  very  clearly 
written.- H'orZd. 

A  critical  review  of  tho  varioua  systems  of  property  and  labor  in  vogue  for 
many  ueiiti.—AUi~uiiil. 

A  Btudy  in  politioal  economy,  and  evinces  wide  erudition  and  deep  thought.— 
Yules  Co.  (N.  Y.)  Chronicle. 

All  who  can  should  read  it,  particularly  the  very  wealthy,  who  aro  in  the 
greatest  danger.— 27te  Liberal. 

Tho  author  evinces  a  mind  free  from  bias,  canvassing  the  subjects  treated 
with  vigor  and  clearness.— Tru^/i  Heekar  (N.  Y.). 

Tho  result  of  profound  investigation,  careful  reading,  and  deep  thought.  Em- 
bodies tho  moat  advanced  ideas  of  gcouovdxcb.— Washington  Post. 

Every  workingman  should  read  it,  and  every  thinking  man  may  obtain  en- 
lightenment and  food  for  thought  from  ii.—Easton  Labor  JuuriuH. 

Takes  radical  ground  and  contains  matter  that  not  only  ad\ranced  thinkera, 
but  tho  public  goueraily,  may  well  considor  with  c&VQ.—Dav  Slar  (N.  Y.). 

The  argument  is  directed  toward  points  of  investigation  which  often  eacapo 
the  economist,  but  which,  when  settled,  serve  to  make  the  rest  clear.— Jo/i?i 
SxaintorVs  Paper. 

Intelligence— an  exact  and  systematized  knowledge  of  tho  groat  governing 
laws  of  life— ho  considers  to  bo  tho  only  solvent  of  the  groat  problems  of  tho  ago. 
— Banner  of  Light. 

One  of  the  beat  publications  on  this  subject.  Able,  thorough,  and  logical. 
Many  of  the  chapters  are  roma.rkablo  for  their  deptli  ol:  thought,  and  aro  worth 
three  timea  tho  price  of  the  book.— (S'ttndai/  Gazetteer. 

tl^The  highest  praise  any  book  on  this  subject  could  receive  has  been  ac- 
corded this  work,  tho  policy  of  silence  iu  regard  to  it  having  been  pursued  by 
nearly  all  of  tho  capitalistic  press.  _■£] 

THE  TBUTH  S££££B  CO.,  28  Lafayette  Place,  New  York. 


MEN,  WOMEN,  AND  GODS, 

AND    OTHER    LECTURES. 

By  HELEN  H.  GAKDENER. 

WITH    JN    INTRODUCTION 

By  col.  R.  G.  INOERSOLL. 

PubliHhed  by  Tme   Tuutii  8ekkeii  Company,  J.8  Lafayette  Pi.,  Now  York, 
ivy  popcri  handuom«)ly  bound  iu  cloth,  ll.UO  ;  paper  covurn,  DO  ccuta. 


I' 


PUKSS    NOTICES. 

[The  Chicafiro  Times  is  one  of  tho  most  wido-awako  and  independent  newB- 
paporH  in  Amorica.  ItH  daily  circulation  Ih  4a,(X)0  (lopicjH  ;  itH  Sunday  circulation 
iH  ijut  a  few  hundrerl  Ichh  tlian  50,000.  The  daily  edition  iH  never  Ichh  than  ten 
•ugeH,  while  itH  Biinday  edition  ol'teu  reacluH  twenty.  Helen  H.  Gardener  may 
hereioro  couifratulate  lierself  that  her  book  has  induced  ho  wici'^ly  reji(l  a 
journal  to  Kive  itH  world  an  opinion  ho  daiuaL'iuif  to  the  claioiH  of  Ciiriutiauity 
QH  tho  following  notice  of  "Men,  VVcunen,  and  Oodw  :"1 

"  Men,  Women,  uud  OodH,  and  Oth<r  LectureH,"  by  Helen  H.  Gardonc  r,  in  a 
duodecimo  volume  of  about  1K<5  pa^en,  containiiii;  three  leeturea  witli  an 
api)endix,  setting  forth  some  of  tho  authoritieH  from  which  tho  lecturer  draws 
some  of  her  material. 

Tho  flrst  lecture  gives  the  titlo  to  tho  book,  the  second  is  on  "  Vicarioua 
Atonement,"  and  tho  third  on  "  Historical  Facts  and  Theological  Fictions." 

All  are  keen,  vigorous,  and  acrid  attacks  on  the  Christian  church  forms  of 
theology.  They  can  scarcely  bo  said  to  bo  attacks  on  religion  or  religious  feel- 
iufj,  since  tho  flower  of  that  plant  is  charity  of  thought  and  action,  and  in  this 
MiHs  Oiirdonor  sees  tho  highest  end  of  man's  emotional  side,  as  in  absolute 
freedom  of  investigati<m  and  opinion  she  sees  the  highest  end  of  his  intellectual 
side.  Hir  leading  purpose  «eenis  to  bo  to  show  that  wonien>  of  all  persons, 
should  l-sHst  support  tho  Bible  and  tho  churches  which  hold  it  in  reverence. 

Till)  tirst  lecture  is  u  surprisingly  bitter  and  scathing  denunciation  of  tho 
Old  Testament  as  tho  sum  of  all  ci'uelty  and  brutality  toward  women,  and  sho 
makes  upastartlingly strong  case  from  the  pages  of  tlio  book  itself.  Ii  any  one 
does  not  think  tho  case  can  l)o  made  strong  let  him  read  carefully  this  book  and 
also  tho  thirty-tirst  chapter  of  "  Numbers," 

Tho  second  lecture  arraigns  vicarious  atonement  as  an  inexcusable  injustice 
in  itself,  weakening  and  corrupting  iu  its  influence,  like  indiscriminate  alms- 
giving, and  points  out  tliat  it  is  not  peculiar  to  Christianity,  but  is  found  in 
Hoiuo  form  in  every  religious  system  known  in  history. 

Both  these  lectures  are  strong  productions,  but  are  disfigured  with  a  good 
deal  of  flippant  phrasing,  designed,  no  doubt,  to  catch  the  popular  attention  by 
tickling  tlio  popular  ear.  The  lecturer's  strongest  work  is  done  in  tho  third 
lecture,  Avlioro  nor  purpose  is  to  show  that  our  civilization  is  in  no  sense  based 
upon  Christianity,  and  that  tho  Christian  religion  has  especially  not  contrib- 
uted to  tho  elevation  of  woman  in  any  respect.  Here  she  drops  largely  her 
Uippancy  of  style  and  settles  down  to  earnest  work. 

Civilization  sho  holds  to  be  chiefly  tho  creature  of  environment,  the  basis  of 
which,  in  this  world,  is  in  climate  and  soil.  In  support  of  ^ler  view  of  the  posi- 
ti<)n  of  woman  she  quotes  largely  from  Sir  Henry  Maine,  showing  among  other 
tuings  that  the  position  of  woman  in  Boman  law  and  iisage,  before  the  intro- 
duction of  Christianity,  was  in  advance  of  what  it  is  even  now  in  some  respects, 
and  that  the  tendency  of  the  canon  (church)  law  was  invariably  to  force  her 
back  into  the  degradation  from  which  she  had  been  rescued  by  a  long  and 
painfu*  evolution. 

In  this  lecture,  too,  she  answers  the  questions  as  to  what  sho  would  substi- 
tute for  the  sanctions  ot  Christianity,  and  she  takes  considerable  pains  to 
show,  what  one  would  think  need  scarcely  be  insisted  upon  in  our  day,  that  the 
morals  of  civilization— morals  in  general,  indeed— are  not  at  all  based  iu  or 
dependent  upon  religion,  certainly  not  on  Christianity,  since  tho  so-called 
golden  rule,"  the  highest  principle  of  morality,  antedates  Christianity  a 
tnousaua  years. 


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